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I want to give you some words of wisdom for the workplace. First words of wisdom: Talk to yourself in encouraging words, not negative ones.
In Psalm 41 and 42 you will notice this phrase is often repeated: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Evidently the writer was struggling with depression, with discouragement, with the blahs, just like you and I struggle from time to time. And he talked to himself as a way to speak the right words into his mind and turn around his wrong thinking.
In verse 6 of Psalm 42, we read, “My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you…” Now this is a very good technique and habit for all of us to learn. When you feel down, you should then force yourself to remember and recite out loud God’s goodness to you in times past.
Are you having a tough time today? Then, stop right now and talk to yourself; find some place where you can say something like, “Look, Mary, what is your problem? The God of all the Universe loves you and cares for you, he has met your need time and again.”
I noticed in Psalm 42 and 43 that the writer also verbalized his doubts. “Why have you forgotten me. Why have you rejected me?” He voiced those doubts and questions out loud to God, but immediately he came back to the truth of praising God and hoping in God.
When I find myself doubting and questioning God, I try to voice those to him out loud. “Lord, I feel as though you’re not there. BUT I know better Lord. THEREFORE, I trust you, I place my hope in you. You are my Savior and my God.”
So, talk to yourself. I believe it’s a Scriptural principle we need to incorporate into our lives to help us find victory in those everyday ups and downs of life.