plagued at midnight

My thoughts plague me at a late hour tonight. But the truth is, they have been tormenting me for hours now. Maybe even days.
Thoughts are not allowed to run rampant in our minds. Right? Wrong. They are. And that is how we are mentally destroying ourselves and others.
Our thoughts are slaves to our flesh, bound by the Devil who will not free us. We are rescued by our Heavenly Father, but even then, the Devil tries to re-captivate us through our thoughts. He has done it to me many times.
For years I thought I was a worthless human being who could not be used by God because of her own inadequacies and failures. The failures grew and grew and grew, and to this day I still struggle with believing that I CAN change myself and I CAN make a difference in the world. It's a struggle every day to wake up in the morning because, who would miss me if I didn't?
But the Bible says we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. It doesn't just say, we take captive the good thoughts and make sure they fit with Christ. It doesn't say, we take captive every thought from 5am to 5pm. It says EVERY thought. Even the ones in the middle of the night that pull you awake, screaming or crying, or just plan silent, staring in fear and worry at the ceiling. It include those lustful thoughts about that someone that force their way into our minds at any random point of the day or night. It includes those depressing, I am worthless thoughts that hit you when you least expect it. All of those are to be taken captive and thrust into the fire. The FIRE, NOT the GARBAGE. They have to burn, change form, and never come back.
Why? Because God is in control. That's it. No other explanation. Our Sovereign Father has us in His arms, and he's NOT letting go. So why should we let our negative, depressing, lustful, harmful thoughts try to pull us out of his arms? The only power they have is what we give them. Otherwise, they are dead, worthless, pieces of ash. Ever noticed how similar the words TRASH and ASH are? I don't think that's a coincidence. But that's where those kinds of thoughts belong. The ones that should fill our minds should be centered around Christ, around faith, and hope, and around love. And on others, not ourselves. Because God's got us. Our job is to love God, love people. And we can't do that if don't take control of our minds. Our minds belong to Jesus. Not the Devil or ourselves. Now prove it. Take those thought captive. Don't give the Devil a foothold. Christ is the ONLY one with the power in our lives. Take hold of that truth, receive it, grasp it, and live it out.