| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Resilience” Our Bible verse for today: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Be careful what you talk yourself into.” In the months after Tim Hansel suffered the rock-climbing accident which rendered him crippled and in pain, and as he was trying to come to terms with this new reality in his life, he found himself thinking constantly about his pain and his new limitations, and he quickly developed the habit of making excuses for himself. Rather than pushing himself to deal with and overcome his challenges, he was instead trending towards letting others do things for him and rationalizing why it was needed and necessary. However, during his time of convalescence he came across the words of author Richard Bach in the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. Bach wrote, “Argue for your limitations long enough and, sure enough, they’re yours.” In other words, you can talk yourself into a victim mentality and a life of depending on others. But conversely, you can also talk yourself out of that mindset. So, be careful what you talk yourself into. About that same time Tim also came across the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit.” Be joyful always? Give thanks in all circumstances? Even if you have a broken back and you’re in constant pain? Evidently so. That doesn’t mean you have to be happy and joyful about the broken back, the pain, and the limitations. But it does mean you can pray, stay close to the Lord, and you can choose joy over sorrow, optimism over pessimism, and faith over fear. According to Paul, to choose to do anything other than that will result in quenching the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. It will limit the ways in which God can work in the middle of your difficult circumstances to help you and bless you (Romans 8:28). There is no bigger waste of time and emotional energy than to wallow in self-pity. Self-pity and a negative frame of mind helps nothing; but a positive and determined outlook makes every situation better. And you can talk yourself into one just as easily as the other. The most important conversations we have are the ones we have with ourselves. Be careful what you talk yourself into, because you will have to live with whatever that is. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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