I’m slowly learning how to talk to myself. Now before you think I’m going crazy, let me explain.
There is a difference between listening to ourselves and talking to ourselves. It comes naturally to listen to ourselves. We wake up each morning with a million thoughts in our head.
What should I tackle first? How are we going to overcome this financial burden? What should I make for dinner?
In my ESV Devotional Psalter I read this interesting commentary from Martin Lloyd Jones:
“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc . . . Your self is talking to you.”
Our selves talk to us. And to be honest, they aren’t always kind. Negative viewpoints and rumination assault us at every turn.
But what if there was a better way? What if we learned to talk to ourselves versus listening to ourselves?
When we talk to ourselves we decide what the soundtrack of our mind will play. We put on the album and press repeat.
And the best way I know how to talk to myself is through the Word of God. We must listen to ourselves constantly replay Scripture in our mind.
In Psalms 43, the psalmist paints a beautiful example of this in action. The psalmist is processing his deep discouragement. He expresses his concern that perhaps God has forgotten him: “Why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning?” (v.2)
Perhaps one of the most discouraging things in life is to feel as if God has rejected us. We don’t understand why He seems to have forgotten us.
But then the psalmist rises up in verse five and begins to talk to himself:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God.”
Why is your soul downcast? Why the turmoil within?
When our self begins to crush us—when we doubt if God is for us—we must rise up and talk to ourselves rather than listen to ourselves and say, “Hope in God!”
Jones continues:
“Now this man’s treatment was this, instead of allowing this self to talk to him. He starts talking to himself, ‘Why are thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks . . . His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.’”
I will tell you what the soundtrack of your mind will be.
Talking to God is not about a self-help pep rally. It’s not about trying to convince ourselves that the good will eventually outweigh the bad. Or, that if we work hard enough, things will work out.
Talking to God is about one thing: Remembering Who God is.
This is the only way to talk to ourselves in our deepest disappointments and needs. We must recall Who He is and here our soul finds its way out of despair.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you.” ~Psalm 42:5, 6a
When we talk to ourselves versus listening to ourselves we tell ourselves who God is. Here is just a small picture of Who God is in Psalm 42 and 43:
The Commander of Love:
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.” (42:8)
Our Salvation:
“. . .my salvation and my God.” (42:11b)
Our Refuge:
“For you are the God in whom I take refuge.”(43:2a)
Our Joy:
“Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy.” (43:4a)
This is the God we remember as we talk to ourselves. We can either listen to the self-defeating voice that wrecks us emotionally. Or, we can remember who God is, quoting back Scripture to ourselves.
When we learn to talk to ourselves instead of listening to ourselves, things change. We have hope rather than the suffocating blanket of doubt. Things become clearer as we see the Way. We rise up and say,
Why are you so downcast?
Hope in God!
Let’s begin talking to ourselves today.
Great article Chris. I love the thought of "Remembering Who God Is." So often I think we all forget just who He is and what all He can do.
I love the distinction between talking and listening. I think I often talked to myself God's words and His attributes, but consciously knowing the difference is a way to catch myself when listening instead of talking, Thank you for this key to living out God's plan for our lives.