Some of our younger members may have never even seen a record player. But I think most of us remember them and how they worked. You put a grooved plastic disk onto a rotating platter. When a needle is placed on the grooves, music comes out. You might also remember that sometimes when there are scratches on the surface of the record, the needle skips on the scratch and stays on the same section of the record, so the same segment of music is played over and over again.
Sometimes our minds are like a broken record: the same words play in our heads over and over again. Usually, these are negative words like “I’m ugly”, “I’m no good” or “There’s no use trying.” Some people pay too much attention to these broken record words and ruin their lives.
We hear these broken records when Christians try to walk in faith. These words try to keep us from taking and believing God’s word at face value. When I started reading the Bible, the broken record I heard said “The Bible is a good book, but not a practical one.” For example, when I read 1 Thessalonians 5:16, which says “Rejoice, always” a voice in my head said, “Sure, if you were an apostle like Paul you would have written the same thing because it’s what you’re supposed to say, but you wouldn’t really mean it.” I believed this for awhile, until one day when I realized that Paul is telling us to rejoice always because he actually lived a joyful life all the time. This realization helped me see the possibility of rejoicing always and living that kind of life myself.
In regards to God’s love, a broken record in my head kept saying “Of course the authors of the Bible say that God loves us. That’s the only thing they could say. If God hates us, can you imagine anyone saying that? So it doesn’t necessarily mean He really does love us.” But eventually I became aware of this broken record and committed myself to believing and not doubting God’s love. And as I believed in His love, I started to experience it more and more.
There are still broken records playing in my mind. For example, with faith healing, voices tell me, “Come on! There must be a natural explanation for healing.” Or “It’s just psychological manipulation, nothing real.” Concerning human suffering, voices say “God is powerless. The Bible authors wrote that God allows suffering for our own good just to console us.”
Why do broken records start playing in our minds? There can be many reasons. Like a traumatic experience in childhood, faulty logic or even the devil’s influence. But no matter what the causes, they are there in our minds. To help our faith grow we must destroy these negative broken records. We do it with the power of truth: God’s words. It cannot be done overnight. It takes time. But it can and will be done with God’s help. Being aware of the broken records in our heads is the first step toward freedom from them.
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