Birthday Money Machine:

If you lived through the 1980s and 1990s, we all share some distinct memories from the past. It is 1992, at Thunderbird Roller Skating Rink. The walls are covered in colorful yet noticeably dirty carpet; the rental counter has a backdrop of cubicles filled with light brown skates with orange wheels and your size number on every heel. There is a distinct smell of active kids, disinfectant spray, popcorn, pizza, and a layer of cigarette smoke from decades past. The disco lights are swirling, and your favorite dance tunes are blaring from the DJ booth. In the 90s, it was the place to have your birthday party!

After nearly breaking your tailbone a few times, a slice of pizza, and a massive piece of cake, the Birthday girl had a special treat. The birthday money machine! You know the one, the birthday girl dressed in her brightest neon and fluffiest side pony, excitedly gets to step inside a plexiglass box the size of a shower. Her sweaty tween friends gather around with envious, blue-shaded eyes. The money is blown around by fans from all sides; fluttering up, and down, sticking to her leg, fluttering by her eyes, smacking her in the face, and there are always a few stuck in the corner. For one whole minute, the birthday girl frantically grabs the money flying around her. What she can hold, she can keep.

Thoughts are like the money machine sometimes, swirling around you, coming and going just as fast. I think I have a heap of dollar bills when a stiff wind blows it away again right out of my grip. The TVs everywhere, social media driven, virtue signaling companies, phones in every hand, the world we live in assaults our senses and makes critical thinking and faith-filled living seem like you’re grasping at flying dollar bills.

“We destroy arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5

Discernment doesn’t enter the chaos box. That’s where they get’cha! Just like the fan that produces the wind to blow the money around, there is an enemy unseen, causing a chaotic life. Check out the context in which we are living. Read the previous verse, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

We walk in the flesh; our physical reality before us is this broken world, but the war Scripture says we are waging is spiritual. That sounds scary, fighting an unseen foe. That is why Satan wants our lives and thoughts so chaotic, to confuse and distract us from the weapons we already have. What does verse 4 say our weapons are capable of? Destroying strongholds with divine power. What kind of power? Divine!

Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God. Read verse 12 to hear who we are fighting against. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes fitted with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit are the believer’s continued protection while warring with the enemy.

I never experienced the excitement of the cash machine in my youth.  However, being Gen X or Xennial myself, I witnessed enough friends’ and strangers’ birthdays in the tornado of cash to have figured out a thing or two. As I grew older and more observant, I noticed something peculiar. In order to secure the most cash, the Birthday Girl only needed to remain still and use the tools they already had. Their arms! If a kid stood still while the money swirled frantically around them, and they placed their arms in a cradle position across their stomach, the fan would create a little money vortex, placing bill after bill into their arms. If the Birthday girl could control herself long enough, the fan would turn off, and she would have arms full of cash.

How often do we frantically grab and swipe at thoughts and situations? God has given us the tools we need to fight the battles of this broken world. We will take thoughts captive.

Philippians 4:4-7 tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness[d] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

As the "principalities of this present darkness" create chaos, we take our thoughts captive, examining them with the truth of God’s Word. We rejoice because we aren’t alone in the swirling tornado of thoughts. The Lord is with us. He is with you. The world won’t understand when you stand still; it won’t get it when you stop swiping frantically. The follower of Christ can wage war and take thoughts captive, all while experiencing peace the world does not understand. Your heart and mind are guarded; you only need to be still.

Use the tools God has given you to fight your battles while at perfect peace, then rejoice, strap on your rental skates, and take another lap.

The Good Portion Journaling Questions:

What thoughts do you need to take captive?

What are some ways that you have tried to handle the chaos of the enemy in the past?

What happened? What did you learn from that experience?

How does scripture tell us to handle anxiety and chaos?

Who does it say we are fighting against?

What are some ways you can take your thoughts captive, rejoice, and live in peace this week?