"My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" (v.8)
I find myself saying it all the time. When people hear it they laugh, but actually I'm being quite serious when I say it. Here it is. No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You're in an unending conversation with yourself. You're talking to yourself all the time, interpreting, organizing, and analyzing what's going on inside you and around you.
You may be talking to yourself about why you feel so tired. Or maybe you woke up this morning with a sense of dread and you're not sure why. Perhaps you were surprised by how angry you got at the remark of that co-worker. Or maybe you're rehearsing to yourself your schedule for the day, wondering why you agree to so many things in one day. Perhaps you're reliving a conversation that didn't go too well. Or maybe you preparing yourself for a conversation that may be difficult by conjuring up as many renditions as you can imagine, so you can cover all the contingencies. Maybe your mind has traveled back to your distant past and, for reasons you don't understand, you're recalling events from your early childhood. Or maybe you're simply telling yourself to "buck up,", "slow down," "hang in there," or "take charge."
The point is that you are constantly involved in an internal conversation that greatly influences the things you decide, say, and do. In Psalm 27, David lets us eavesdrop on his internal conversation. He's exhorting himself, in the midst of his trouble, not to run away from God, but to run toward him. Now that's good self-counsel!
What do you regularly tell yourself about yourself, God, and your circumstances? Do your words to you encourage faith, hope, and courage? Or do they stimulate doubt, discouragement, and fear? Do you remind yourself that God is near, or do you reason within yourself, given your circumstances, that he must be distant? Do you encourage yourself to run to God even when you don't understand what he's doing? Or do you give yourself permission to back away from him when you are confused by the seeming distance between what he's promised and what you're experiencing? Are you your own best defense lawyer, laying out arguments for your innocence in places where you're actually guilty? When others talk to you, is your internal conversation so loud that it's hard to concentrate on what they're saying?
Here's the question. How wholesome, faith-driven, and Christ-centered is the conversation that you have with you every day? Do you remind yourself of your need? Do you point you, once again, to the beauty and practicality of his grace? Do you tell yourself to run toward God in those moments when you feel like running from him?
Would you be comfortable with someone playing a public recording of the private conversation you have with you every day?
No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. How well are you counseling you? Reach out for help one more time today. Confess that you don't counsel yourself very well and rest in the rescuing grace of the One who is called the Wonderful Counselor.
"This article is a resource of Paul Tripp Ministries. For more information visit www.paultripp.com"
