If You Pick It Up, Lift It Up

A Simple Way to Interrupt the Cycle of Overthinking

By Brayla Williams Part of The Abundant Faith Team

Have you ever caught yourself thinking about the same thing over and over, only to realize you’ve spent an incredible amount of time and energy on something you haven’t actually done anything about?

Maybe it’s a conversation you need to have, something you wish were different about your life, or a situation you’re trying to figure out. You think about it while you’re driving, getting ready for bed, working, or doing any number of things that have absolutely nothing to do with the situation itself.

And somehow, despite all that thinking, you’re no closer to a solution than you were when you started.

Our minds have an interesting way of convincing us that if we just think about something long enough, we’ll eventually figure it all out. But there’s a difference between thoughtfully considering a situation and repeatedly running through the same thoughts without making any progress.

That’s called rumination, and it’s something I think most of us can relate to on some level.

There are plenty of tips, tricks, and tools available to help interrupt those thought patterns. Some are incredibly helpful, and I’m certainly not suggesting we should abandon them. But I’ve found one simple habit that has become one of my favorite ways to redirect my thoughts when I recognize I’m getting stuck.

If you pick it up, lift it up.

It’s a little reminder I’ve started giving myself when I catch my mind wandering back to something I’ve already spent too much time thinking about. Instead of continuing to turn it over in my head, I intentionally lift it up to the Lord in prayer.

It doesn’t have to be a long, elaborate prayer. Sometimes it’s nothing more than recognizing what I’m doing, asking God for His guidance, and choosing to redirect my attention to what’s actually in front of me.

And the more I practice it, the more opportunities I notice to put it to use.

When What’s Missing Overshadows What’s Good

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to focus on the one thing you don’t have, even when so many other things in your life are going well?

You could be in a wonderful season, surrounded by people you love, enjoying opportunities you once prayed for, and experiencing blessings you never imagined. Yet somehow, your thoughts keep drifting back to that one thing you wish were different.

Maybe it’s a relationship, a career opportunity, a financial goal, or something you’ve been hoping and praying would happen for a long time.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting something you don’t currently have. We can be grateful for our lives and still have desires, goals, and hopes for the future. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.

But when we allow what we’re missing to consume our thoughts, we can become so distracted by what hasn’t happened that we overlook everything God is doing right in front of us.

I’ve found that this is a perfect opportunity to practice picking it up and lifting it up.

Instead of continuing to dwell on what I don’t have, I can thank God for what I do have and ask Him to guide me toward whatever it is I’m hoping for. If there are steps I need to take, I can ask Him to help me recognize them and give me the wisdom and courage to follow through.

And if there’s nothing I can do about it right now, I can ask Him to help me remain content and present while I wait.

Gratitude allows us to appreciate what we already have while we’re working toward or waiting for what’s next.

When We’re Having Conversations That Haven’t Happened

This is one I think many of us are particularly good at!

You know you need to have a difficult conversation with someone, so you start thinking through what you want to say. That’s perfectly reasonable. In fact, taking time to consider our words before entering a sensitive conversation can be incredibly wise.

But then we start imagining how the other person might respond. And, of course, we need to prepare our response to their imaginary response. Before long, we’ve worked our way through five different versions of a conversation that hasn’t even taken place.

We may find ourselves anticipating disagreements, defending our intentions, or trying to determine the perfect moment to bring something up. Meanwhile, the other person has no idea we’ve already had an entire argument with them in our heads!

At some point, preparation can turn into unnecessary worry.

One of my favorite verses, and the verse I’ve built my business around, is Colossians 4:6:

“Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” (NLT)

I love the reminder that how we communicate matters. Our words should reflect grace, wisdom, and consideration for the person receiving them.

But I also know that no amount of mental rehearsing can guarantee how another person will respond.

So when I catch myself repeatedly picking up a conversation that hasn’t happened yet, I can lift it up instead.

I can ask God to prepare my heart, help me approach the conversation with the right intentions, and give me the words I need when the time comes. I can also pray for the other person, asking God to prepare their heart to receive what needs to be said and help us both approach the conversation with understanding.

That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t think through what I need to communicate or take responsibility for how I say it. It simply means I don’t need to exhaust myself trying to control every possible outcome before the conversation even begins.

I can prepare thoughtfully, pray intentionally, and trust God with the parts I cannot predict.

And perhaps most importantly, I can stop allowing a conversation that hasn’t happened to occupy so much of the time and energy I have available today.

When Tomorrow’s Problems Take Over Today

Then there are the worries that don’t necessarily have a clear solution.

How am I going to pay that bill? What if this opportunity doesn’t work out? What happens if things don’t go according to plan? How am I going to manage everything that’s coming up?

These are legitimate concerns. Bills have to be paid, decisions have to be made, and responsibilities don’t disappear simply because we choose not to worry about them.

But have you ever noticed how often we spend time worrying about situations we don’t yet have enough information to resolve?

We run through possibilities, imagine worst-case scenarios, and try to solve problems that may not even unfold the way we’re anticipating.

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 6:34 when He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will bring its own concerns.

I don’t read that as an instruction to stop planning or ignore our responsibilities. I see it as a reminder that we weren’t meant to carry every potential problem from tomorrow on top of everything we’re responsible for today.

When I catch myself worrying about something I can’t resolve in the moment, I can lift that concern up to God. I can ask Him to provide what I need, reveal opportunities I may not have considered, and give me wisdom about the steps that are mine to take.

I can also look back at the times when I wasn’t sure how something would work out and recognize the ways God has been faithful through those circumstances.

That doesn’t mean every situation will resolve exactly as I hope, or that I won’t encounter difficult seasons. But remembering how God has carried me through uncertainty before can help me approach the uncertainty in front of me with a different perspective.

And if there is something practical I can do, whether that’s making a phone call, adjusting a budget, asking for help, or taking the next available step, I can do that too.

Prayer isn’t a replacement for action. It’s an opportunity to seek God’s guidance as we take action, while trusting Him with what remains outside our control.

What If You Keep Picking It Back Up?

Here’s something I think is important to acknowledge: just because we lift something up in prayer doesn’t mean we’ll never think about it again.

Sometimes I catch myself returning to the very same thought I prayed about earlier. And sometimes I have to interrupt myself more than once before I finally stop giving it so much attention.

I don’t think that means the prayer didn’t work, or that I’m somehow failing at trusting God.

It means I’m practicing a new response to an old habit.

Philippians 4:6–7 encourages us to bring our worries to God through prayer, with thanksgiving, and reminds us of the peace He offers to guard our hearts and minds.

What stands out to me is that we’re invited to bring our concerns to Him. We don’t have to wait until we’ve figured everything out, and we don’t have to pretend we’re not concerned about something.

We can acknowledge what we’re carrying and ask Him to help us with it.

And when the same thought comes back around, we have another opportunity to practice that same response.

Over time, I believe this can change the way we approach the things that weigh on our minds. Instead of automatically following every anxious thought down another winding path, we can become more intentional about recognizing when our thinking is helpful and when it’s simply keeping us stuck.

We can ask ourselves whether there’s something we need to do about the situation right now, or whether we’re just revisiting something we’ve already considered.

If there’s a step to take, we can take it. If we need wisdom, we can ask for it. If we’re waiting on something outside our control, we can ask God to help us wait without allowing the uncertainty to consume us.

And if the concern requires additional support or tools to work through, there’s wisdom in seeking those as well. Faith and practical resources can work together.

I don’t expect this little phrase to eliminate every worry or stop every repetitive thought. That’s not really the point. The goal is to become more aware of where we’re directing our attention and more intentional about what we do when our thoughts begin to take over.

There will always be situations worth thinking through, conversations worth preparing for, and problems that require our attention. But we don’t have to spend every available moment mentally carrying them.

So the next time you catch yourself circling back to something you’ve already thought about a dozen times, consider interrupting that cycle with a simple reminder.

If you pick it up, lift it up.

Ask God for wisdom, guidance, provision, peace, or whatever that particular situation requires. Take the steps that are yours to take, and allow yourself to be present for the rest of your life while He continues working in ways you may not yet be able to see.

And if you find yourself picking it up again later, that’s okay. You can lift it up again, too.

Brayla Williams is a Christian writer, Personal Development Advisor, and content creator who uses her lived experience and faith to help people navigate the realities of everyday life. Her work focuses on providing grounded perspective and real-time support for life’s messy moments, helping people shift the lens through which they see their circumstances, recognize what they can change, make intentional choices, and move forward to become the best version of themselves. Through honest storytelling and practical insight, she writes about faith, personal growth, relationships, and the experiences that shape who we become. She is the founder of Breakthrough with Brayla and a member of Abundant TV’s writing team.

 

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