WHAT ARE THE TAPES THAT PLAY ON REPEAT IN YOUR MIND? WHAT ARE THE VOICES YOU BATTLE EACH DAY?
Fear? Insecurity? Uncertainty? Your past?
If you’re anything like me, you don’t realize the tape is toxic. The voices are so familiar they seem like truth. But they are pulling you under and making it seem impossible to come up for air.
The truth is: you can change the tape.
We practiced a beautiful ceremony at my MOPS group this past Friday. One of our moms led us through creating a breath prayer: a short and simple phrase to go back to when you need to be grounded in truth. But first, she led us through identifying our “boss voice.”
WHAT DOES THAT BOSSY VOICE IN YOUR MIND SOUND LIKE?
- Is it a lie that has misshapen your understanding of truth?
- Is it a fear is holding you captive?
- Is it insecurity keeping you in isolation?
- Is it pain from your past keeping you from embracing your future?
We were asked to take the pens and paper on the table and write down what our boss voice was saying to us. Gentle music played in the background. Once it seemed everyone in the room had time to write down their boss voice statements, our attention was brought to a bowl of water sitting in the middle of the table.
This represented the grace, peace and love of God. And when we were ready, we were encouraged to lay our piece of paper in the water. As we did this, our facilitator asks us several questions:
- How did it feel to put our piece of paper in the water?
- Was it relieving? Did we want to grab it back out?
- Was there room for your paper in the water?
- Was yours the only one in the bowl of water?
I remain in awe of how this seemingly simple act impacted me so much. As I gazed at all our pieces of paper floating in that water, I was struck by several things:
ALL OF THE PAGES WERE FLOATING. Not one had sunk to the bottom of the bowl. The water was holding each of our pages. Just as God’s love, peace and grace holds anything we bring to Him.
THE PAGES OVERLAPPED. The beauty of community is when we can each bring our brokenness and pain to the table and have it met with empathy and understanding. Because we all have something to put in that bowl. And there was room for each of our pages.
THE WATER REMAINED UNTAINTED. It held our pain and fears up without being tarnished by them. It was clear, strong and pure.
DEAR ONE, no matter what your boss voice is telling you or how long it’s been playing on repeat, you can bring it to God. It’s not too big, too small, too offensive, too shameful…
Write it down. Then put it in the water. Let it be held by God’s grace, peace and love. And then let Him guide you in turning the tape off and replacing that boss voice with the voice of Truth.
