SoulFit: Guard Your Mind, Trust God

We talk about the anxious mind that shows up when life gets quiet and the “what if” loop gets loud. We reframe anxiety as a trust and control struggle and practice a simple shift that turns spirals into prayer. 
• the “staff meeting” feeling when anxious thoughts pile up at night 
• how replaying the past and fast-forwarding the future feeds control 
• noticing overwhelm, fear, and control as the real drivers 
• Philippians 4:6–9 as a guide for prayer, thanksgiving, and thought redirection 
• why distraction doesn’t solve the loop when quiet returns 
• turning anxious moments into prayer meetings by presenting requests to God 
• replacing “what if everything goes wrong?” with trust and steadfast peace from Isaiah 26:3–4 
Just try it for seven days. Every time you start get that anxiousness feeling, pray instead of replay. 

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Why SoulFit Exists

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome, SoulFit. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. If this is your first time to SoulFit, welcome. Each week we just join our live call as we as I take a little bit of scripture from the Bible and how do we apply that applic that scripture and apply it to our life. So again, thank you for joining us on SoulFit. Let's join our live call.

When Your Mind Holds A Meeting

SPEAKER_00 0:18

So we're gonna talk about today the thing that we've talked about probably be many times that nobody has, which would be an anxious mind. I'm sure nobody has that. So have you ever gone through the day and been totally exhausted? And then you lay down, you get ready to go to sleep because you're physically exhausted, and then your mind decides to have a staff meeting. That's the story of my life. Yes. And then for some reason, every everybody is present and accounted for and wants to talk all at the same time. And all the conversations, all the words, it starts ramping up. And so, you know, our mind is it wants to think about every like a staff member, everybody is part of the company. Our our mind wants to start thinking about family, which is kids, spouse, relationships, our finances, our health, the business, the future, the regrets. And unfortunately, our mind just doesn't think of the one thing at a time. It's like bombards it like constantly, like one right after the another. If we think about anxiousness and the way our mind runs, we probably think, well, my mind is just over, it just goes on and on.

The Hidden Need To Control

SPEAKER_00 2:16

But what if it was really a trust problem, not necessarily a thinking problem? And so we're gonna talk a little bit about that, about about guarding your mind and trusting your God. And so as we think about that, we think about why won't our mind shut off? Why won't it just, you know, even though we try to tell it be quiet, be quiet. And then we start thinking about trying to tell it to be quiet. Because a lot of times our mind is going through things that we really weren't meant to carry alone. And isn't it really as we go through it in our mind over and over, aren't we really trying to control it? And we're trying to control the outcome. I'm like, oh, if I had said that, then that would be different. Well, if I do this, this, and this, then I'll make a difference here, here, and here. Or maybe we're mainly trying to control other people. Maybe it's conversations, maybe it's future scenarios that may or may not happen, but we're sure gonna go ahead and work them out for the nth degree just in case they do. And maybe it's even problems that we can't fix today. Um, I'm sure, like me, if you've ever woken up in the middle of the night and something came to mind and it seemed so important at the moment, but then the next morning you're like, Why'd I why'd I try to solve and fix that? It didn't need to be done at 2:30 in the morning. It couldn't wait, and it wasn't that pressing. Because the things our mind is saying is, what if? And we say that a lot, what if? What if you're playing conversations over in your head? Did I say something wrong? And sometimes we're like, Well, I wonder what if they're upset? I think they kind of had that slight look in their eye, or they they moved a certain way. So I think they might be upset. I wonder if what if this doesn't work, or what if something goes wrong? So, and it's what we do subconsciously. If I think about enough, I'll control it. In other words, if I think about enough, I'm doing something to help the problem, and and the thing is, is that we're not so we're gonna talk a little bit about the Bible actually talks and understands about an anxious mind.

Philippians 4 And Thought Redirects

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So in Philippians 4, 6 through 9, it says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And then as it goes on, I like this second part. It says, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy worthy, think about such things. Whether you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. So the first part says, Don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation, it talks about be be prayerful, be thankful, um, present your request. And then it also talks about paying attention to what is noble, what is pure, what is good, what is excellent, what is praiseworthy. Because it it doesn't say stop being anxious, it doesn't say stop thinking. That's what I meant to say. It doesn't say stop thinking, we are gonna be anxious, but it the Bible doesn't say stop thinking. What's it say? Those those verses say think on something else, think on something different. I mean, really, it is redirecting our thoughts. All sounds good in theory, right? To redirect our thoughts. You're like, you're laying there trying to go to sleep when your mind is, you know, the whole companies have a staff meeting in your mind, and you're like, it'd be real nice to redirect my thoughts. So those don't always come easily. So it will take some practice, and we're gonna talk about that. But we get in those loops sometimes, don't we? Of am I doing enough? And these are some of those conversations that are going through your mind, and and they're probably related to some of those thoughts you'd have. It is, you know, I wonder if they need this, I wonder if I didn't that. They kind of all break down to some areas, which am I doing enough for my family, for my spouse, for friends, for at work? What do people think of me? Sometimes it, what if everything falls apart? How I fix it all. And sometimes we look at other people and go, why does she have it all together? She seems like it has have it all together. And have you ever met anybody that from a distance you go, man, she has got it all together? And maybe it's just you've you've seen them out, you've maybe met them a couple times and don't really know them, and go, man, she has got it all together. And then you become friends, and you become better friends and better friends, and then you find out, oh, she doesn't have it all together. She's kind of just messed up, just like me. And because we get in that loop of that, and and and and there's people that that think the same about you when you think I had to not have it all together at all. And there's other people going, man, if I just had it together like her, man, that'd be awesome. And sometimes it's that guilt of I should have done more. And we fall in these loops, and that's what happens in our brain at night when we get anxious. It goes over and over these loops because you know, we're not keeping our hands busy, we're not doing anything, we're laying there, we're trying to go to sleep, but these loops keep going around and around and around. And so, how do we quiet the mind?

Naming The Loop And Getting Intentional

SPEAKER_00 9:00

That's I think always the question is how do we quiet our mind? And, you know, this week we talked about undernew management and being intentional and walk and talk and sit and talk. We talked about being intentional. And when we quiet our mind, it has to be too one of those things that is intentional. It's very challenging. It's easy to go, well, the Bible says don't be anxious. Okay, you know, I just won't be anxious. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There's more to it. So maybe it's just as simple as as that's happening, you say, What is happening? What is happening right now? And maybe you're thinking, because sometimes doesn't anxiousness with all those things going on in your mind cause some overwhelm? Like I'm so overwhelmed right now with all the things and all the voices talking in my head that's saying, I'm not enough, I didn't do enough, I need to be better. You didn't, that conversation didn't go well. You kind of acted weird on that one. All those things are spinning around. And so you think, well, am I being overwhelmed? Am I afraid of something? Or maybe am I trying to control something? Because we become aware of the loop. Because again, when we control, it's really a challenge for trust.

The Carnival Story About Trust

SPEAKER_00 10:18

And so somebody asked me when we did the carnival before we got started. But everybody was kind of setting up, and she asked me if I was anxious about it and having, and it was very stressful for me. And I said, yes, it was. Because I didn't have control over it. I didn't have control over making sure, knowing exactly what was going where, how everybody was doing their booth. I really took a lot of work for me to trust and say, here's the idea, run with it. That was very challenging for me. And and and we do the same thing when we're when we have all this anxiousness because we're not trusting God. Even though everybody that volunteered to help with the carnival, nobody had ever given me any reason whatsoever to distrust. And isn't that funny? Even though nobody did, guess what? I kept thinking. Well, what if? What if this one time? What if something happens? What if, what if? And so it was very challenging for me. And so I had to be aware of that. And it took a lot of work for me to work through that. And it's, I mean, you think, well, that's kind of goofy, but that's what our brains do. I mean, that's kind of what looks. I mean, if you want a real situation, that's what it looks like. I was trying to control it. It wasn't, it was really my lack of trust. And there should have been no reason for lack of trust. And and we think about that. Do you have any reason not to trust God? Has he ever done anything that went against what he says in the Bible? Never. Never has that happened. But yet we still go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hang on to this. And if I think about a whole lot, maybe somehow mentally telepathic, I'll be able to fix it. And so we keep doing that. And so part of that is we have to think about what is actually happening at two at 245 and at in the morning. What's going on right now? And a lot of times, if you say, I think I'm gonna try to control this, I think I'm trying to be in charge of this. I think a lot of times our answers would be yes. I think it would be yes. And then when we're aware of those, maybe it's we take note of it. And really in the middle of the night, when you lay down, and I would think probably a lot of times that happens a lot, and sometimes it's just the middle of the day, and sometimes it's quiet, and what's quietness happens, it really gets loud. The noise in our head gets really loud. And so sometimes our mind just needs an outlet. And in that second part of Philippians, when it says, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever's true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. And so if you can't sleep sometimes when your mind's going crazy, what might

Turning What If Into Prayer

SPEAKER_00 13:32

you do? Some of the things might be flip on the TV. I'll just watch a little friends, I'll just watch a little golden girls, I'll just watch a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Or you go, well, I'll just grab my phone real quick, and then you scroll, and then you turn off the TV or you or you turn on some music, you turn all that off, and then what happens? All of it comes racing back. But what if in those things, what as as he as it said in the scripture, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice. And maybe at those times when we're thinking about all the things that we go, what if I'm not enough, I'm not good enough, I didn't do that. What if it just turns into a prayer? What if it just turns into a prayer that you release that control and let God have it? What if you go, I don't know if I said the right thing, I don't know if I did the right thing, but I think in the moment I did the best. And Lord, just be with me as whatever outcome comes. And I know you'll be with me to deal with it. And turn those anxiousness staff meetings into prayer meetings. How different would it be when you have those? What if those turned into prayer meetings? And what if instead of you had an hour-long time of being wide awake and anxious, you turned it into an hour-long prayer meeting about all the things you're thankful for, about releasing control of you know, an outcome with a child at work, those conversations you had two months ago that you think someone might have rolled an eye or gave a little huff. What if you just turn that all over? And and really isn't a prayer meeting. If if you're in a prayer meeting at church, it's it's what are we going to pray for? What do we need to, what do we need God's help with? What do we, how are we petitioning our requests? And that's what it says here. It says, present your request to God. I mean, we think nothing of taking our kids to see Santa Claus and tell him what you want, Johnny. Tell him what you want. So you tell it, go up there and sit. What and we get to do the same thing. We get to present our request. And just like our kids that we sit on Santa's lap, as they're telling them, we're going, there's no way you're getting that, because you are not ready for a BB gun. You're only four. But same thing with us. We can present those requests, and then we have to trust. If it's going to happen, it's because God wanted it to happen. He allowed it to happen. If not, there's a reason for that too. If I acted a certain way, I got to do better. Forgive me for that, Lord, and let how can I move forward and be better? And we just turn those anxious nights, those anxious moments, those, and they're not really moments sometimes. Sometimes they're hours, sometimes they're days. What if you had a day-long prayer session and everything was, you know, and it might, you might go, man, I am so tired of praying. And then you know what that's gonna mean? That's gonna, you're gonna go, wow, there's a lot, I have a lot of control issues. Wow, that's pretty interesting. And then you start to learn some things. And guess what? When you when you start having those prayer meetings, just like you have any meeting, it opens up communication. And guess what? When the more we communicate with God in prayer, the more he talks to us, and the more we know how he talks to us. And so we get to understand more his communication pattern. How does he communicate with us? Because he communicates with all of us in a different way. So we start replacing those thoughts with truth. Because then it says, Because our mind might say, Well, what if everything goes wrong? What if it all goes south? And then maybe we replace it with what in Isaiah 26, 3 through 4, it says, You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord Himself is rock eternal. The rock won't budge, the rock will always be there. So you will keep in perfect peace. Perfect peace. I think when those anxious thoughts come, that's really what we want, right? Is the perfect peace. But that will happen to our minds are steadfast. It doesn't, it means that we're always looking and trusting in him, trusting that he is the rock forever. Is that easy? No, it is not easy whatsoever. And and I don't want to make it sound like it is easy because it is very challenging. And so as I say, it's not easy. You go, well, that's that's that's a lot of help. Good. But it's not easy. But anything worth getting better is not easy. And if it's something you really want to get better, I'm gonna leave you with a simple phrase. Because really, as we think about anxiousness, it's really all the things we're going over. We're either replaying the scenario or we're fast forwarding, trying to project what it's gonna be.

Pray Instead Of Replay

SPEAKER_00 18:42

So a real simple thing to remember when you start to get anxiousness, whether it's about to come or whether it happened, pray instead of replay. So you pray instead of replay. And so when those things start kicking off in the middle of the night or the middle of the day when it's quiet, and you're thinking about all those things, and you're because that's really what it is, right? We're hitting the the let's play that over and over again button and start praying. Praying for the things that you are thankful for, that you want to happen, that you're trusting Him, that you're laying those down, you're partitioning your request. You get to pray and start being taking action in that manner instead of replaying. And so you'll find those prayers over time will begin to change. They'll begin to change from Lord, help me, help me, help me to thank you, Lord. Oh, what a blessing, Lord. I'm so appreciative of this, Lord. And it starts to change. And so that would be my challenge for you over the next, um, just try it for seven days. Every time you start get that anxiousness feeling, pray instead of replay. And you might find out your days are filled with prayer. Um what a wonderful way to spend a day instead of a day filled with anxiousness. What if you ended the day and said, Oh my gosh, I had the most prayerful day today, instead of ending and go, This has been the most anxiety-ridden day. So that's my challenge, is pray instead of replay. We'll we'll finish up in prayer and then everybody can go on about their fantastic

Closing Prayer And Final Blessing

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Friday. Dear Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for bringing us all together today. And just Lord, as we go out, and and when we leave this moment, life comes rushing back in. It is rushed all around us, even during this time. But Lord, we just pray that we turn those thoughts, those things that are really causing us to replay over mind. We just turn those over to you and we give you full control of those things and we lay those down and uh encourage us and help us to have those prayerful days instead of those anxious days. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, everybody. Hope you have a fantastic Friday, and thank you to each of you for joining us on SoulFit. I'm so forward to seeing you right here next time on SoulFit.