The Power Of Negative Thinking

Many years ago, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale wrote a book called, “The Power of Positive Thinking”. It became a best-seller. People are always looking for a way to make things work for them, and the ideas in this book seemed to hit a chord with readers. I, myself feel that the book is about 50% helpful but is also about 50% wrong in its focus.

Dr. Peale is a Christian minister and therefore tends to direct his readers toward a recognition of God. And that is good.

But I believe that the focus of the positive thinking that he proposes is necessary, is too often directed toward making the person feel good about themSELVES and their ability to do their own thing. It seems to say that with “help” from God, the SELF can have the power of accomplishment if the SELF just thinks it can. And this is a wrong focus.

Dr. Peale apparently does not see the human being to be a “container”, a “vessel” which has no power of accomplishing the will of God separate from the contents of the container. Christians are living containers, but containers none the less. The apostle Paul, with all of his faith and accomplishments, was called by God “a chosen VESSEL” (Acts 9:15). Jesus called Christians “branches” or living containers of the Vine’s sap. There is no power within the structure of the container but all power is derived from the power of the contents.

God created us, not to have positive power put forth from the container, the SELF, but rather to have ALL power of achievement to come from a living UNION of the container, the SELF, with the contents, Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ is there dwelling within the Christian to BE the source of the power.

The container is important, though. The usage of the power of the contents is directed outward and controlled by the container. Milk is a powerful substance. It does much within living creatures to effect their metabolism and growth abilities. But milk must ALWAYS have a container. To just squirt the milk out of the udder of the cow right into the air without catching it in a bucket or a milking tube would be a foolish waste of power. At every stage of milk delivery to the child, the power of the milk is controlled and directed by a container - milking machine, tanker truck, factory cartons or jugs, child’s cup, child’s body.

The power of Christ to work in the world is controlled and directed by His living containers. Christ is the power, but the containers determine the usage of that power.

So when it comes to the “power of positive thinking”, it must always be tempered with the understanding of our container/contents relationship with Jesus Christ. The container is nothing of itSELF. But the container is everything when its contents is Christ. Christ, our Lord, said, “I, of my own self, can do nothing. The Father within Me, He does everything.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as a man could do nothing?!? How much then can you ever expect of your SELF? You would have to say, less than nothing!

So watch out for positive thinking directed toward your SELF. This can, by subtle means, direct you away from TRUST in the power of Christ. It can direct you toward neglect of guidance communication with Christ within and the recognition of His control.

The positive thinking that we are to have is the positive recognition and awareness of our union with Christ within our spirit. This union brings about the only true positives that can be produced in our lives.

But the title of this article is: The Power of Negative Thinking. And, mark it well, there is MUCH power in negative thinking.

We live in a modern world of ULTRA communication. There are so many forms of information accessible to us through the internet and the media that, at times, the data all seems overpowering to us. Human beings have always wanted to know as much about what was going on around them as they could. And now they CAN know from the media fantastic amounts of information about what other people are doing, how they are doing it, and what effects are taking place. We can see the destruction of an earthquake on the other side of the earth in a matter of minutes on CNN. We can see the results of plane crashes, mass murders, acts of war, soon after they occur,

And, let’s face it, the “bad” news seems to make the headlines faster and with more accent. What does this do to us? It creates a “power of negative thinking” - call it “PNT”. In the unconverted human separated from God, this PNT can be overwhelming and depressing. The PNT creates a sense of “me” against the world and it is a pretty nasty world out there. Now, of course, God can use this PNT, this fear of the world around him in the unconverted person, to draw him to a sense of frustration with his own abilities and the need of a Savior.

But what about PNT in a Christian? The Christian in the modern world would have to go out and live in a cave somewhere in order to avoid all the reporting of negativity. There is only one answer - THE CHRISTIAN MUST CHOOSE NOT TO BE FEARFUL! What do I mean by that? There are choices by our soul mind that must be made away from fearfulness.

(1) We must CHOOSE not to dwell on the media with its resultant PNT. Catch quick segments of the news to keep up with events. But don’t constantly dwell on the news media or the internet. The amount of “good” information received from these sources is far outweighed by the PNT. Learn to recognize those feelings of Satan’s influences toward fear, and drop the media coverage like a “hot potato” turning to something else, preferably something about the enjoyment of God’s creation. We are told in the Bible to “flee” sexual sin. Well I believe that it can be just as important for our spiritual life to “flee” from PNT.

(2) We must CHOOSE to spend time considering the promises made by God in His Word to His children - promises to direct our life toward good and promises to protect us from evil. Belief in God’s protection can neutralize the effects of PNT.

(3) We must CHOOSE to see the world as God sees it. God is dealing with each individual on the level of their God concept. The evil circumstances and situations that we do become aware of around us CAN be used by God in the plan of salvation to turn “sinners” into “saints”.

(4) CHOOSE to memorize those immortal Bible words: “IF GOD IS ON OUR SIDE, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?” (Rom. 8:31 Living Bible) And God is more than on our side. He has made us members of His Family and has PROMISED never to forsake us.

PNT fades into oblivion when these deliberate choices are made by the Christian.

At the end of the Great Depression and the start of World War II, there was a song by the great song-writer, Johnny Mercer. The song became very popular, possibly because the idea was one that the country needed particularly at that time. It was titled: “Accentuate the Positive”. The lyrics were as follows:

You’ve got to accentuate the positive;
Eliminate the negative;
Latch on to the affirmative;
And don’t mess with “Mr. Inbetween”.

You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum;
Bring gloom down to the minimum;
Have faith or pandemonium’s
Liable to walk upon the scene.

To illustrate my last remark -
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the Ark.
What could they do,
Just when everything looked so dark?

They had to accentuate the positive;
Eliminate the negative;
Latch on to the affirmative;
And not mess with “Mr. Inbetween”!!!

Simple idea, right? Harder to do, right? Not hard for a Christian who knows who he is:

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE OF YOUR LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST MAKING YOU A CHILD OF GOD.

ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE OF SATAN’S ILLUSION OF POWER. SATAN AND HIS CIRCUMSTANCES ARE A CONQUERED FOE BY CHRIST IN US.

LATCH ON TO THE AFFIRMATIVE - GOD’S AFFIRMATION OF HIS PROMISES TO THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH AND TRUST IN CHRIST TO GUIDE THEM.

AND DON’ T MESS WITH MR. INBETWEEN - DO NOT WAVER - KNOW THAT YOU KNOW! - DO NOT “WONDER” ABOUT PROTECTION, BUT THANK GOD FOR IT BEFORE YOU SEE IT!

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