By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
A surgeon walks into the operating room to perform his first surgery. He says, “Calm down, David. This is minor surgery—just a few cuts here and there.”
The patient nervously looks up and says, “Doctor, I’m not David.” The doctor replies, “I know that. I was talking to myself.” Dr. David isn’t the only one who talks to himself. We all do.
Martin Lloyd Jones, a respected early twentieth century pastor and medical doctor, wrote: “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”
It may not seem like a big deal, but it makes an enormous difference. When we listen to ourselves, we’re letting our minds wander. Unfiltered thoughts roam through our brains, leading to wrong conclusions.
Emotions pound us with negative talk, painting our future gray. Inevitably, we see only worst-case scenarios when we listen to ourselves.
That’s why we need to talk to ourselves. Test every thought and emotion to see if they’re rooted in truth and reality. Tell yourself the truth.
That’s what the guy who wrote Psalm 42 did. He remembered the good ole days when everything was great. When he was on the top of the mountain, and it was clear sailing ahead.
But all that changed. Events and circumstances took his legs out from under him. He confessed, “tears have been my food day and night.” But instead of listening to the voices in his head, he talked to himself.
Why so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him again. My soul is downcast within me. Therefore I will remember you… (Psalm 42:5-6).
This guy didn’t accept what he was feeling as the final word. He reset his thoughts on the truth. He dismissed discouragement and depression as the best response to his circumstances.
He refocused by asking himself two questions. “Why? Why do I feel this way? Do my feelings reflect reality? Are they the final word on the situation(s) that put me in this funk?”
These are the questions you need to ask yourself when you’re feeling like everything is caving in on you, and there’s no way out. Stop listening to yourself.
Those voices and emotions strip hope from us. They deprive us of critical thinking to find a solution. Left to wander unhindered, our minds always add fuel to the fire of negative emotions and hopelessness.
So, stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself. That’s the solution to coping with negative emotions and pessimistic outlooks. Talk to yourself. Question your feelings and conclusions.
Tell yourself truths like these:
One, it’s not always been this way. There have been times you were on the top of the mountain, and everything was rosy. Even when there were occasions that got you down, you knew you were strong enough to ride it out and not give way to a downcast spirit.
Two, it won’t stay this way forever. Your situation will get resolved. It may take longer than you’d like, but it will disappear one day.
Three, God doesn’t do random. The thing that has stolen your hope and joy didn’t just happen. God allowed it because it is part of his master plan for you.
There’s something you need to know… or believe. There is a change or two he needs to make in you first so he can move closer to his plan for you—something unbelievably good.
Four, you are not alone. The psalmist’s solution to feeling downcast was to remember God (vs. 6). That’s a good strategy. Remember what God’s done for you in the past.
Those times he bailed you out of some dismal days. The instances you were on the verge of giving up, but God showed up instead and turned on the lights.
So talk to yourself about God, and his power and his faithfulness. Tell yourself the truth and plug your ears to your whiney feelings forecasting disaster. The truth will resurrect your downcast soul and sustain you through whatever comes your way.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.