The Application of the Truth of God to the Hurting Soul: Part 3

Preaching truth to ourselves as we battle for the mind
The fight of faith in the midst of troubles is more often than not a battle of the mind. Our minds are the battlefield. Satan, the flesh, and the world have lies for their arsenal and our main weapon is truth. Here is what we have a tendency to do when we face troubles: we allow our self to talk to us instead of us talking to ourselves. In other words, we are many times passive listeners rather than active talkers to ourselves. Rather than “renewing our mind” (Romans 12:2) we often allow our mind and our thoughts to control us and send us into an ever increasing spiral into our fears, depression, and despondency and away from the truth of God and His promises.
An example of this might be someone who battles with depression. They may wake up and tell themselves, “This is going to be another terrible day.” Or, “Something will go wrong today, just give it time.” Or even worse, “God has abandoned me and is nowhere to be found.” The list of examples is endless. The point is that this person most likely thinks these things thousands of times during the day without ever really taking notice of what occupies their thoughts. So it is no wonder that they feel depressed when you consider that they have been “listening” to themselves speak things that are not in conformity to the truths of God. Everybody does this, to one degree or another, but this is most harmful in times of struggle.