My thoughts will not stop

When one thought immediately turns into another, your mind can start trying to solve your entire life at once—what could happen, what someone meant, what you forgot, whether you are making the wrong decision, or whether God is trying to tell you something. And when prayer or surrender does not make the thoughts stop, it is easy to wonder whether the problem is your faith. But a loud mind does not automatically mean weak faith. Sometimes staying mentally busy has simply become one of the ways you have learned to stay prepared.

Relentless thinking can become an attempt to create certainty. Your mind keeps replaying, planning, analyzing, and considering every possibility because somewhere underneath it is the hope that enough thinking will prevent a mistake or keep you from being caught off guard. Faith can become tangled into that loop too, especially when you begin examining every thought for meaning—Was that God? Was that fear? Is this a warning? Am I missing His will? The goal is not to defeat your thoughts, but to help your attention become bigger than them so a thought can exist without becoming the only thing you can see.

Choose one spot in front of you and let your eyes rest there softly. Without moving your head very much, begin noticing what you can see at the edges of your vision. Notice what is farthest to your left, then what is farthest to your right. Keep your gaze soft instead of staring at any one thing. Now notice the space above and below you too. Let yourself take in more of the whole room at once—the light, colors, furniture, movement, or simply the open space around you. You do not need to solve the thought or make it disappear. You are simply allowing your attention to notice that there is more here than the one thing your mind has become locked onto. Let your eyes move naturally again and slowly look around the room. Notice whether there is even a little more space around the thought than there was before.

Instead of using your relationship with God to find one more answer, sign, explanation, or certainty, this practice invites you to experience being with Him without figuring everything out. The unanswered question can exist without taking up the whole room. You do not have to chase every thought, decide whether it came from God, or force yourself to surrender it correctly. You can allow uncertainty and God’s presence to exist at the same time—and discover that not knowing does not disconnect you from Him.