Keion Henderson - Not Overthinking

I want to talk to you today about not overthinking because the heart of the righteous ponders but doesn’t overponder. The righteous consider how to answer but very quickly come to a solution. Overthinking is when we spend mental energy on things that don’t deserve it, and the reason so many people are happily poor is that they pay too much attention. You wouldn’t pay too much for food, and you wouldn’t pay excessively for clothes, although we sometimes do, but you understand what I’m getting at. Everything is overpriced, but you get what I’m saying. There are some things you’ll pay a little more for, like an exclusive shoe, but even that has a limit to how far you will go.

Walk into the barbershop tomorrow, and if the barber says, «What do you need?» and you say, «I need a fade, » he says, «Okay, that’ll be $7.50.» Now, you might pay $50 or even $100 for it in some cities-that’s overpaying-but $7.50 for a haircut? No. Everything has a price, and the reason so many people are happily poor is that they pay too much attention, overthinking things that don’t deserve it.

Overthinking takes on many forms; one of the forms is worry. How many worriers do I have? My grandfather used to tell me, «Boy, worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it won’t take you anywhere.» By the time you finish worrying, you’ll be right where you started. By the time you finish worrying, it would have ended the way it was going to end anyway. By the time you finish worrying, it will have started the way it was supposed to start anyway. So, you have to protect your mind from giving too much energy to something that doesn’t deserve it.

One text message-and I know I’m talking to somebody right now, I’m right in your alley — can cause some people to fixate in a trance for 20 minutes, pondering how to interpret what someone else meant, instead of picking up the phone and saying, «Hey, what did you mean by that? What does that mean?» Instead, they think, «Well, I know how they normally react, and I know what they normally do, and the last time they said this, it meant that.» But just because it meant that last time doesn’t mean it means that this time. We would rather worry ourselves into completing someone else’s sentences, instead of giving them the opportunity to explain themselves.

How many of you have ever been in traffic and had someone cut you off? You spend $ 12 worth of gas chasing them down, only to never catch them, just to give them the middle finger. And still, you’ve been cut off. Now, you’re two exits past your destination and you’re going to be late to where you were supposed to go, just to let someone know that you didn’t appreciate being cut off. When you could have just taken a deep breath and recognized, «Hey, there’s nothing I can do about it.»

Let 's take this a little further, and this is going to be a bit more comical. How many of you are this kind of person? You 're getting off an exit because you need to go, and you look for someone to let you in, but when you get in, you refuse to let anybody else in! Now, look at how crazy we are-we’ll be looking at people who won’t let us in, talking about, «It ain’t that serious, you can let me in, » but then when you get in, you speed up to not let anyone else in. Look at how detrimental our minds are; they are fashioned to only work when we are benefiting. It’s amazing how much sensibility goes out the window when we are not on the beneficial end of the barrel, but on the receiving end.

It 's amazing what we think about a gun we’re pointing at someone, as opposed to how we would think about that same gun if it were pointed at us. Most people dedicate copious amounts of mental energy and brain space to relatively insignificant events. Who am I talking to right now? Holler at your boy! How many of you can just think about something you wasted a lot of brain energy on, only to find out it wasn’t even worth it? The defense of the overthinker is that everything they think about is worth considering. I can tell you right now, everything you think about is not worth your thoughts. Why? Because Proverbs 23: 7 says, «As a man thinks, so is he.» What that means is that when you overthink, you actually become the thought.

Okay, hear me: somebody offends you, but just because someone offended you, that doesn’t mean you have to be offended. You can have offense without being offended, but the moment you think, «They offended me, » guess what? Now you become the thought. Offended people become mean people; offended people become malicious people; offended people find ways to get even-all because we lack the discipline not to overthink.

What would have happened if Jesus was at the table with Judas, knowing Judas was going to betray him? Let me tell you what Jesus did because Jesus ponders. One of you who are at this table is going to betray me-"Is it I?» How many of you have read this story? What did they all say? «It ain’t me, Lord; it won’t be me.» Jesus says, «Let me simplify it for you. The one who will betray me is the one who dips into the bowl with me at the same time.» That's it.