Overthinking involves thinking about a certain topic or situation excessively, analyzing it for long periods of time. When you overthink, you have a hard time getting your mind to focus on anything else. What you are thinking about gets in a loop. Research suggests that overthinking is associated with feelings of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

You are sometimes left thinking that you can conquer anything. This used to make me a poor test taker. Instead of looking at just the questions as they were asked and answer them, I thought about that which was not there. Most times it was because of the fear of making a mistake.

In fact, the longer you think about something, the less time and energy you have to take productive action. Plus, thinking about all the things you could have done differently, second-guessing your decisions, and continuously imagining worst-case scenarios can be exhausting. So, you just give up.

You might try to convince yourself that thinking longer and harder helps you. After all, you’re looking at a problem from every possible angle. But overanalyzing and obsessing actually becomes a barrier. Much research has shown that thinking too much makes it tough to make decisions. Very little is accomplished.  

One way to avoid overthinking a subject is to incorporate Scripture and prayer into one’s thoughts. The psalmists give us excellent examples of this.  “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul” (Psalms 94:19).

Many of the psalms were written by overthinkers who were facing danger, emotional unrest, fear, or despair. They boldly wrote out their anxious thoughts and then turned them into the worship of God.   

Satan capitalizes on our inclination to overthink by creating doubts and fears about spiritual things. Some Christians who overthink have difficulty resting in their salvation because they over-analyze their grace-based relationship with God rather than resting in “the simplicity that is in Christ”. We may think that we have gotten so far away from God that He cannot use us.