Thursday, June 21, 2018
Soul talk
Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”
There are many people who are talking to their own souls. There is a saying that when you talk to yourself you are not quite right upstairs. Others say that talking to yourself is ok once you don’t answer.
In a sense, we all talk to ourselves all the time, there are these silent conversations going on in our heads. Then sometimes, we blurt out something like, “where did I put the remote?” as we search desperately for it.
The conversations we have with ourselves tend to be silent as we work through stuff like decisions. However, many of us are often caught saying things to ourselves out loud. Some experts believe that speaking out loudly to ourselves is an involuntary reflex activated sometimes when we are very comfortable, like when we think that no one is nearby to hear us. It is not necessarily a sign of mental health issues.
This group of experts also believes that when we talk to ourselves through a task, for example, it helps to focus the mind and improve performance. We often see athletes doing this, especially those playing solo sports like singles tennis where there are no team members to lean on for encouragement.
So, if talking to ourselves is not a prime sign of mental illness, then we may want to spend a little time examining how we talk to ourselves and the effect that this self-talk has on us. Again, experts place general self-talk into two categories, instructional and motivational. And, if you talk to yourself about it you might agree that sometimes there is a bit of overlap between these two based on what you’re doing at the time.
Of course, there is self-talk that is a sure sign of mental illness, and, given the rise of mental health issues these days, it may be useful to examine your self-talk to determine if you need to see a pastor, counsellor, or mental health professional. For example, if you are hearing a voice in your head that’s not your own, or are you talking to yourself about things that, are very negative, or is your self-talk making you depressed rather than helping you through a task in an instructional or motivational way. If some of this is happening you should seek help quickly.
Then, there is the self-talk that is a sure sign of spiritual problems. That kind I call soul-talk, a self-talk that places us at the centre of the universe, assuming control of our own destiny, and ruling out any place for God in our lives or the world. That kind of self-obsessive talk leads to a self-sufficiency that makes us spiritually vulnerable by placing us outside of God’s care and out of step with God’s will.
The Psalmist, long before we had clinical psychologists to work through these issues for us, wrote “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.” Psalm 14:1 and repeated in Psalm 53:1.
That foolish soul-talk clearly leads to a corruption of mind and heart that leaves one, not only out of relationship with God but out of proper relationship with others. Their only secure relationships are with people as corrupt of heart as they are, ‘They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Psalm 14:3
In our passage today, Luke 12:16-21, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who he calls a fool. The man had a bountiful year in his farm lands and recognising the record-breaking yield he started a conversation with himself. They talked about the yield, the challenges the harvest presented, and about the steps that must be taken to handle it. They, he and himself, agreed on a massive construction project to increase storage capacity.
At no time did they stop to acknowledge God, none raised a voice to thank Him, neither sought His guidance. That soul-talk excluded God, place the man at the centre of the universe, made him and him alone responsible for his success.
“And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” Luke 12:19.
The sovereign God he excluded, however, had an agenda and a purpose that our soul-talking friend hadn’t made room for. He was like those referred to in Palms 14 and 53. He was a fool. Those who indulge in soul-talk aren’t mad, they are foolish.
Jesus brought together the Old Testament Psalm with the man’s contemporary actions in declaring that “God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” Luke 12:20.
The way to authentic prosperity in God, both for now as we sow and reap in the earth, and for the treasures we should store up in heaven, is to talk to God about ourselves, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4,5.
Think on these things:
- Do you find yourself talking to yourself out loud?
- What do you talk to yourself about?
- Does your church have any means of supporting persons who are struggling with spiritual or mental health issues?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would learn to trust in the Lord, delight out selves in Him, commit our ways to him and avoid foolish soul-talk.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
