Ever have a time you really needed to talk to someone, but no one was there? Your spouse didn’t answer the phone. Or your mom. Or your dad. Or your best friend.
Sometimes even God seems quiet.
It’s at that time you will find yourself having THE most important conversation you’ll ever have.
David found himself in just this predicament. (I Samuel 30). He and his men came home to find their camp had been burned and all their wives and children were taken captive.
What did they do? They cried. Those big, burly, strong warriors sat down and cried until they could cry no more.
Then those same men, David’s loyal and faithful army who risked their lives for him and vowed on solemn oath to follow him even to death, turned on him. They wanted to kill him.
David was just as grieved and distraught as they were. He could have given up and quit right there. “All my men are against me. God seems so far away. What’s the point? Someone else….anyone else….would make a better king than me. I’m out.”
But he didn’t yield to discouragement. He had the most important conversation he had ever had right then and there. With himself.
But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (I Samuel 30:6)
There was no one left to give him a pep talk, so David talked to himself. And I’m sure it sounded something like this:
Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God! (Psalm 43:5)Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1-5)
The most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones you have with yourself.
Our friends may turn on us. Our families may not answer the phone. God may even seem distant at times. We may feel all alone.
But it’s at that moment in time we need to choose not to focus on what we feel. Or think. We must choose not to be discouraged by who’s with us or who’s betrayed us.
It’s at those times we need to look away from everything going on around us and open our mouths and let the Word of God fly out. That’s when we need to encourage ourselves in the Lord whether we feel like it or not. Our feelings DO NOT get to dictate our conversation. Our heart does.
And can I tell you, it’s when we feel like it the least that we need to do it the most. So say this out loud:
I'm not going under. I'm going over. I'm the head and not the tail. I'm blessed coming in and I'm blessed going out. Greater is He who is in me than anything I face in this world. His strength is in me. His wisdom is in me. His Spirit is in me. I've been bought by the blood, healed by His stripes, forgiven by the cross and empowered by the resurrection. No weapon formed against me can prosper. It may be formed, but it will never work. It doesn't matter what my body says. What my situation says. What my checkbook says. It only matters what God has said, and He's faithful to His Word. If He spoke it, He will perform it. Because God is on my side, I cannot be defeated and I will not quit!
I’ve had to do this more times than I care to count. Sometimes multiple times a day. But it works!
Dig into the Word. Find out what God said about you and your situation and determine to speak only what He has said.
You can talk yourself out of quitting. Talk yourself out of discouragement and depression. You can talk yourself into strength and trust and faith.
Have a conversation with yourself today. It will change everything.