Do You Talk to Yourself?

Martin Lloyd-Jones once said: "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?”

Each of us has negative thoughts—troubling and sometimes disturbing. If we pay attention to these negative thoughts, we energize them. You might say we feed them. So instead of listening to them, we should start talking to them.

For example, think how different things might have been if Eve had not listened to the serpent who twice planted doubts about what God had really said. If Eve had only talked back to Satan, perhaps she would have gained control of her thoughts! But her negative thinking actually allowed Satan to deceive her. Here’s the pattern: first Satan dictated her thoughts; then he deceived her mind. Don't let negative thinking dictate you. Turn the tables—make them take dictation! Talk to them assertively from the Word of truth until you have taken all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

Turn off the ROBOT and answer your phone!

A recent USA Today article reports that of all electronic communication, social networks, like Facebook, have become the dominant form of communication—surpassing email. And among the 20-somethings, voice-to-voice telephone contact is being rapidly replaced by texting. And not only that, but almost all businesses now have phone robots with whom you will have to interact. Add it all up and you get something no one could have imagined 50 years ago—we do a lot of talking to and through robots.

Don’t you get irritated when you call AT&T with a specific problem, but you have to answer a bunch of questions by a robot before speaking to a live person! And who hasn’t been bothered when you are in the middle of a crisis and you call your friend (husband, wife, etc.) and get their voice mail because their phone is turned off! (You have to talk to their robot—their ‘voice mail’!)

Aren’t you glad we have a personal God—one who speaks to us intimately—through His Holy Spirit, through His Word, through teachers and pastors? Listen to how God spoke to Israel in the light of a ‘missed’ phone call: “I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear.” (Is. 65:12) When the Lord calls you, make sure your phone is turned on.

Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" And he said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." (1 Sam. 3:10)