How to Stop Overthinking

Picture this: you've just crawled into bed after what seemed like a great day. You turn off the light, close your eyes, and prepare for a peaceful doze into sleep.

And then the overthinking begins.

What follows is a routine so many of us are all too familiar with. We obsess over everything we said that day and beat ourselves up over everything that we didn't. We replay conversations over and over again in our minds, agonizing over the smallest of details and analyzing all the ways in which we could've been wrongly perceived. We spend hours ruminating on these thoughts, rehashing the past until everything that seemed good at first now becomes nothing more than a place for worry and distress. 

Our desire for control over our lives can lead to these thoughts taking over our minds, leaving us in an exhaustive state of anxiety for the days to come. While it may feel impossible to escape the shackles of overthinking, I'm here to tell you that with determination and God on your side, you can put an end to the constant barrage of thoughts.

You see, the wonderful thing about having a relationship with God is that we’re never alone in our struggles. He tells us to come to Him whenever we're burdened and weary (Matthew 11:28), to cast all our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7), to not worry about anything but instead rely on Him for strength and peace of mind (Philippians 4:6).

How comforting is that?

The God who created the universe and knows the stars by name cares for you more than you could ever imagine, and is always there for you to depend on. He wants nothing more than for you to surrender your worries, your overthinking, to Him and trust in His control, so that He can finally let you experience His all-encompassing peace that is unlike anything we've felt before. Pretty incredible, if you ask me.

So next time you notice yourself spiraling into the overthinking trap, remember these verses and enter into prayer. Ask God to help you let go of the situation and surrender it to Him, to give you the strength to trust in His perfect control. Any time an anxious thought about it enters your mind, imagine crumpling it up and casting it onto God for Him to take care of. Little by little, you'll start to see that rather than acting as glue for the overthinking thoughts, your mind will be more rubber as you immediately give any thought that enters it over to God, trusting completely in His control.

Now, this is all easier said than done. Wanting to be in control of everything is in our nature, and it takes a pretty high level of faith to truly hand a situation over to God. But faith is a constant journey, and with every prayer and attempt at trust we make, it grows that much deeper and stronger. Always remember that no matter where you're at in your faith journey or in your struggle with overthinking, God will always be there for you, ready to help you overcome the battle.