My dad loved to quote his parents throughout our growing up years as a way to keep their legacy alive, and to share their wisdom with us kids. Somehow, knowing that he was quoting our grandparents and trying to pass on worthwhile character traits, made me appreciate his words even in moments when I would rather not. This was one such line I heard often. It was his regular response to complaints against a hard or frustrating task.

“Don’t think about it just do it.” -Grammie June

Now because I know there’s naysayers out there and things get misunderstood on the internet I will quickly address the fact that this is not suggesting people bulldoze their way through life without putting in the proper thought and planning to ensure you are doing the right thing, that you are doing it well, that you are seeking glorifying God, or being efficient, or any of those aspects of “thinking” that are proper and necessary to do in any situation. As Christians we should always be exercising discernment and being considerate of our actions.

What I am specifically referring to when I quote this line from my father and my grandmother, and what they meant by it, is the overcoming the human tendency to overthink in unnecessary and unhelpful ways and thus hinder your own productivity. I am specifically referring to the moments that probably most moms recognize when you realize you spent more time dreading, thinking about, and putting off a task than it would even take you to do it in the first place.

As an adult, this line jumps into my mind on numerous occasions when I find myself growing frustrated or feeling overwhelmed with whatever is before me to do. I see the value in quoting this mantra to myself in a whole new way now versus when I was a kid. I remember rolling my eyes when I’d hear Dad start saying, “Well you know what Grammie June always used to say.”

To which the response would always be, “I know…” sigh, “don’t think about it just do it.” When I was younger, I understood there was wisdom in that practice when it comes to pushing through the hard. However, I did not understand how truly necessary that mindset is sometimes in life. It is so easy to build a job up in our heads, and put it off because it sounds like too much work, like it would take too long, or we simply don’t know where to start. I find myself doing this often, and when I finally complete the task, I realize it was actually way easier than I thought it was and took half the time!

One silly example of this was when I vacuumed behind my fridge for the first time as a home-owner. I knew that vacuuming under and behind your fridge was something that you should do on occasion, but in my head it seemed like a big job. I thought about the fact that I needed to do this “at some point,” for months! Until one day when I already had the vacuum going, I thought to myself, “I will just quickly pull the fridge out and do it.” In my head, I heard my dad’s voice quoting my Gram, and I got to the task. I was shocked and felt quite foolish when 5 minutes later I was done, and I had not only vacuumed but wiped down the floor and the wall with a wet rag, too. In fact, I felt so accomplished that I pulled out the stove and cleaned around that, as well!

As an adult, I look back on those moments with my dad with great appreciation knowing that they are good reminders to me as I grow in motherhood. When we allow our thoughts to run rampant with complaints or dread or frustration in any area life, in opens the door to sinful heart attitudes in relation to our work.

For example, when I let myself dwell on the frustrations of making dinner while children are behaving poorly, I am filled with bitterness. When I dwell on the fact that a task I need to do is overwhelming, it leads me to procrastinate with laziness. When I think about how tired I feel about a long to do list, it leads me to feel anxious and to be uptight with my family, or to have a selfish pity party. All of these are sinful expressions of attitudes within my heart that are taking root simply because I am allowing myself to think too much on things that are not biblical instead of just simply fulfilling my responsibilities.

Training our mind to think on what is good

Philippians 4:8-9 and the verses immediately proceeding it come to mind when I am thinking of this topic. The idea of telling ourselves in essence not to “dwell on the hard,” and instead to put ourselves into action with a happy heart, follows the practice of training your brain that Paul addresses here. He states, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (emphasis added).

At the time of writing this letter, Paul was in prison. In a position where it seems all you can do is think. He could of spent his time dwelling on how much he did not want to be there, but instead he wrote joy filled letters to fellow believers teaching and encouraging them. He meditated on good things and called his fellow believers to do so too. He took action, witnessing to and discipling others in the ways that he could–even in prison! He expressed that he had joy even in the struggle knowing that he was suffering for Christ. He saw the good coming from his situation, and dwelt on that (Philippians 1:12-18).

There is a spiritual battle in our own minds where worldly, selfish, and sinful thoughts vie for our attention. If we dwell on them it defeats us spiritually, destroys our productivity, and negatively impacts every area of life. The devil loves to see us become unproductive for Christ, and he will work to fill our minds with distractions and negativity to accomplish that very goal. However, Paul reminds us that we are equipped to have victory over these spiritual battles through Christ. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captiviy to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. We have the Holy Spirit and the word of God as our spiritual weapons with which we can combat the temptations toward negativity.

So the next time you find yourself procrastinating on an overwhelming task or dwelling on the hard aspects of life, remind yourself to take those thoughts captive with the help of the Holy Spirit. Replace the negative thoughts with reminders of what is good in your life today, what is true, what is noble, and contemplate the lovely things around you. Focus on fulfilling your responsibilities “as unto the Lord.” Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you to do your work heartily, happily, and completely, and borrow my grandmother’s line, “Stop thinking so much about it, and just do it!”

I hope this was an encouragement to you as you push through hard seasons or moments in motherhood as it is to me!

The Holy Bible: New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.