What you feel vs. what is real

Good morning… Over the next couple of days I’m going to be sharing some excerpts of a book I have just finished reading…The book is titled The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney and it is a fabulous book. I’ll finish up this section tomorrow, but here’s something to think about today…and it’s something we can all relate to!
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“Have you realized,” preacher David Martyn Lloyd-Jones once observed, “that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”

I agree. Let me explain what Mr. Lloyd-Jones means by “listening to yourself.” If you’re anything like me, there’s a good chance you do it every day. You know the routine. Every morning the alarm clock erupts, demanding attention.

Make it stop…make it stop! You hit the “snooze” button.

A precious eight minutes of floating, timeless oblivion pass. Then the grating alarm starts again. You open your eyes and the “listening” begins.

Today is … Thursday. Oh, no, you have the sales meeting! You’re better off curling up here for the day.

You should exercise. Ooooh, the back is sore, forget it.

Two feet are thrown over the side of the bed. The voice keeps talking. Yesterday… what was it? Oh, that new noise from the car. Great. Life is just one big broken, whirring mess of… and you need to balance the checkbook.

As your bare feet hit the cold bathroom floor, the voice picks up its pace.

What did Laura mean by that comment? Was she being sarcastic? Can’t anyone in this family learn to put the toothpaste back?

This weekend will be so busy. You’ve got so much to do today. You should pray. You don’t have time to pray. You didn’t pray yesterday.

This mirror needs to be cleaned. Shouldn’t have watched that show last night. Wow! I need a haircut.

Soon.
God feels kind of distant?
Oh, I feel so drained…

Can you relate? On a daily basis we’re faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He’s accomplished for us at the cross.

Far too often we choose to passively listen to ourselves. We sit back and let our view of God and life be shaped by our constantly shifting feelings about our ever-changing circumstances. Life is busy. Often hard. Full of distractions. And before a morning cup of coffee, our passive listening can take us on a roller-coaster ride as we review a hundred different topics and experience a dozen varied emotions.

Is it any wonder we’re so often unhappy? We’re listening to ourselves. We need to start talking to ourselves instead.