Intrusive Thoughts

Introduce myself

Starting new series on Mental Health

[Mental Health Doc QR Slide]

We put together a Google doc with a bunch of helpful verses and support resources. I encourage all of you to get your phones out and scan the qr code to have access to those resources for you or people you know that struggle with mental health.

How many of you are hearing about mental health at school or on Sunday at church or things like that?

May is mental health awareness month, so you may be hearing about it a lot lately, but it’s an important topic. Even if you aren’t currently struggling with your mental health, you likely know someone who is. And knowing about how to understand it and help them can go a long way to walking with them through it.

We’re going to be doing some studying today so I need you to stay with me ok? look to your neighbor and tell them to leave you alone. Look at your other neighbor and say, “I need to focus”.

What is an intrusive thought?

it’s when a thought keeps coming up over and over and it’s hard to get rid of it?

Did I finish my homework or put it in my backpack?

Did I lock the door when I left?

I feel like I’m forgetting something.

We all get these thoughts, but it’s what we do with them that matters.

My intrusive thoughts are about my kids being ok. Or something bad happening to them. For me, I know this comes from one of my deepest fears which is something bad happening to my kids that I can’t control or stop. I’ve only noticed these intrusive thoughts the last 3 years or so, and I’m constantly trying to remind myself to give them to God and give my kids to God and trust that He will care for them in ways I never could, but it’s still something I have a hard time with sometimes.

How many of you have intrusive thoughts like this? Random thoughts that keep popping into your head?

Our first verses tonight are from Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the first page of the Bible itself. Remember, we’re doing some digging, so stay with me.

Genesis 2:9 “The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

So God created all the trees, and they were all beautiful and full of delicious fruit. This verse even directly mentions the 2 main trees we hear about, the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All trees, including these 2, looked good, and were edible.

and if you go to the previous chapter, in Genesis 1:31 we see this after the 6th day of creation,

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.”

So God created everything, including the 2 trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge, and it was all good to eat and all looked beautiful.

Then later in chapter 2, we see this

Genesis 2:16–17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.””

So God creates this beautiful creation, all of which looks good and is good, then tells Adam not to eat from 1 specific tree. Why?

I’m glad you asked! Let’s keep going down this path.

Let’s skip to Genesis 3:8 which takes place after Adam and Even eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge.

Genesis 3:8 says “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

So Adam and Eve sin by doing what God told them not too, then they hear God walking in the garden near them. How did they know what God sounded like? Because they had heard Him before. While it doesn’t say this explicitly, many scholars believe that that this verse implies that God and Adam and Eve regularly walked through the garden, which honestly tracks with much else we see in scripture.

But this time, they heard the sound and they were afraid because they knew they had done something they weren’t supposed to.

So where am I going with all this? How on earth do trees and creation connect to intrusive thoughts about leaving the stove on by accident?

Let me tell you about something that happened last week. This stool was a key part of this story.

step stool story about Gemma last week

Step stool in the bathroom, whenever Gemma was on it to brush her teeth because she's too short. She's always kind of jumping back and forth, or stepping on the side of it, or on the back, or on one foot, and I tell her every night, don't do that. Keep both feet on there, stand up straight, because I know that eventually she's gonna fall and hurt herself, or she's gonna tip it over and get scared, or slip off of it, or something's gonna happen. 
She's gonna get hurt. And every time she says, no, I'm not, no, I'm not. No, I'm not. 
No, I'm not. And usually she's right. But one time, this last week, it was, we'll see, Thursday, Thursday night. 
She's brushing her teeth. She's a little more tired than usual. kind of giddy from playing with her siblings, and she's stepping out of one foot. 
And, of course, what happens? She's too far to the side, flips over the stool, and she goes falling down. Somehow, she managed to reach her hand up and grab the bowl of the sink, and so she's hanging there for a good 3 seconds, like dangling like a monkey, hanging from this thing, starting to scream and cry because she's so scared, and her shoulder probably hurting her because she’s hanging there. 
So I help her get down, and I talk to her, make sure she's okay. She didn't get hurt at all, really just scared her.

Sometimes we know not to do things. And sometimes God tells us not to do things. Sometimes it’s in the Bible and sometimes we know from experience.

Intrusive thoughts are like that. We all KNOW they’re little thought worms squirming their way into our conscience. And on a good day, it may be easier to ignore them or move past them. But on a bad day, it might be easier to let them stay there and settle in a bit. And the more they settle in, the harder it is to get them to leave.

See, intrusive thoughts like to hide. They like to hide and spread their roots.

There’s multiple ways to address intrusive thoughts, but I want to talk about 2 real quick.

First, bring them to the light. Remove their hiding spots. This means talking to trusted people about them. Parents, leaders, pastors, friends, counselors.

Eph 5:13 tells us

Ephesians 5:13 “Everything exposed by the light is made visible,”

And when you’re intrusive thoughts are exposed, it makes the next method much easier.

The second is to remove the thoughts. Non-religious counseling says to do things like “picture them flying away” or “pretend to ball them up and throw them out”. And sure, physical actions can help ground us in reality, but they miss a key piece. When you get rid of a thought, it’s going to be replaced by something. We need to replace them with the truth.

Once they’re exposed, push them out of your mind by reminding yourself of the truth in Scripture.

Your mind is telling you you’re not good enough? Psalm 139:14 you are created by God, full of wonder and awe as His beloved creation.

Your mind says you don’t deserve to be forgiven? Romans 5:8 and John 3:16 while we were still sinners, Jesus died FOR us because he Loves us

[Mental Health Resources Doc Slide, keep up for a while]

These are just examples. the resource doc we put together has other Bible verses, and your leaders can help you find verses for your intrusive thoughts.

Put the truth in front of you, on your phone wallpaper, on your mirror at home, in your school notebooks, text it to your friends.

Bring the thoughts to light

Replace them with the truth

The trees in the garden of Eden. God was telling Adam what was true and helpful for Adam to do. Even though the tree of knowledge looked good to eat, God was calling Adam to trust Him. God has given us His words in the Bible, His words of truth, but all too often, we forget them and let those intrusive thoughts simmer in our brains because it’s easier.

Listen to your Father. God loves you and God wants you to dwell on good things, not the lies of the enemy.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.”

Leaders, if you’d spread around the room. I want to take a couple minutes to have a response. Think about what intrusive thoughts you wrestle with. Look up verses to replace them with. Talk to leaders about them, have them help you find verses, pray with them. I’ll be back up in a couple minutes to close us out.

[Give 3-5 mins for response]

[Pray and close.]

Small Group Questions

Do you know anyone who’s struggling with mental health?

What are some examples of intrusive thoughts? (don’t force anyone to share, maybe don’t ask this depending on your students, you know them best)

What verses can we use to counter those intrusive thoughts? (this could take a lot of time, would be good exercise to hopefully get students talking with each other, Google and a Bible app can be a big help for this)

Who are some people in your lives you can talk about your intrusive thoughts with?

What are some other ideas to get past intrusive thoughts? (breathing exercises, changing focus of what you’re doing, etc)