Question #5

Snapshot 4: God's Spirit Reminds us of Truth.

I sat in front of a little girl and her dad. We'd been on the tarmac 45 minutes when the captain pierced our collective irritation. "Folks, we appreciate your patience. Maintenance assures me we should e ready to roll in about 15 minutes."
Fellow passengers groaned, and I agreed. For the past 45 minutes, I'd been compiling a mental list of all the things I didn't like about this particular air carrier. I'd been dwelling on all the bad experiences I'd had in airports lately. We'll just see, I thought. It'll be a miracle if this plane takes off in 15 minutes. But I really wasn't looking for miracles. From a dark corner in my thought closet I was pulling out things that were interrupted by the little girl in the seat behind me.
"Daddy" she chimed. "I spy something blue" Determined to be cheerful, the father guessed, "Is is that bug?" And so the game went. 
"Daddy, I spy something good."
Her dad laughed. I figured he laughed for the same reason I did. It was pretty hard to spy anything good in our caged predicament. 
"Is it a bag of M&M's?" he asked.
"No," his daughter giggled.
"Is it your new shoes or your sweet smile?"
A tenderness washed over me as I eavesdropped. Their words cut through my complaining and frustration and reminded me to fix my thoughts on "something good."
In that moment, I decided to "4:8" my thoughts. That's Philippians 4:8. Find it in your Bible and review the standards of our meditation. 
I began to let my thoughts dwell only on what was true, lovely, and of good report. I spy something lovely. Father, I prayed. You have provided opportunities for me. You have opened doors and made my path straight. I reminded myself delays were simply some of the bumps along the road.
Once I fixed my thoughts on truth, I was able to enjoy the rest of my journey. When I chose to place "praiseworthy" thoughts in my thought closet, the motionless airplane became a sanctuary of peace. My issues of delays and frustration were made easier as I prayed and told myself the truth. 
Who led me to that truth? Was it the sweet little girl and her daddy? No, it was God's Spirit. His role is to lead us into all truth. When I was guiding my own thoughts, I was headed for a train wreck. I was quickly derailing and leading myself down a path that would further complicate my issues.
I need a better guide than my thoughts and emotions. I need God's Spirit to lead me to truth, and so do you. 
Take part in your own "I Spy" game with Philippians 4:8. What is troubling in your thought closet today? What thoughts or situations are dealing with today? Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of truth as you fill in the following activity. 

What do you spy and why? Let me start you off. I spy something true because: I can embrace God's promise to give me strength no matter how tired I am. Copy and paste for your answers.

I spy something true because:
I spy something honorable because:
I spy something right because:
I spy something pure because:
I spy something lovely because:
I spy something of good repute because:
I spy something excellent because: