Psalm 42:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation”
Psalm 27:3 “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.”
What thoughts continually play out in your mind? What are the thoughts that hold you back? Usually, the reason that we don’t do what we want to do (or need to do sometimes) is because our thoughts tell us that we aren’t good enough.
That we can’t speak up because we don’t matter anyway. We shouldn’t even try because we won’t be perfect. That girl is perfect, so we don’t even matter compared to her. We’re not worthy because of the things that happened in our past. That we should feel guilty because of how another person might feel about a situation, or the thing we want to say. That shame should keep us in this box because we aren’t enough.
Those thoughts are often so loud that they drown out the logic. And the purpose of those belittling thoughts is to keep us from our purpose. It’s to keep us forever wounded. Never moving forward, but stuck in the pattern of constantly listening to those thoughts.
I really love these verses in Psalm because it talks about how we talk to ourselves, How the enemies’ lies seep into our mind, and then into our subconscious thinking.
But these Psalms offer direction for what to do when we are plagued with these horrible belittling thoughts. The answer to battling these thoughts is praise.
Praising the Lord for all He has done in your life! Praising the Lord for the blessings that you do have- even if it is just air to breathe.
This Psalm also points out where we can find our true confidence, even when armies from the enemy are battling us. God. GOD is where we get our confidence from. Only God can give us labels that actually matter. Does the enemy want to put the label of not enough on you? God labels you His Child, the heir to his Kingdom. The label of shame? God labels you forgiven. The label of selfish? God labels you worthy!
It has to start with a shift in how you see yourself. You have to stop seeing yourself through your enemy’s lenses and instead see yourself through God’s lense. The enemy tells you that you are weak, while God calls you a warrior. The enemy tells you that you are not good enough, taunting you with past mistakes. God tells you that you are forgiven and loved.
When you hear those thoughts about yourself, in your own head, they come out something like: “I am not enough…,” “He doesn’t love me because…” The enemy doesn’t speak to you in a scary voice that sounds like an enemy. Instead, it sounds like YOU talking to YOU.
I’ll never forget the first time that this was explained to me. I was in treatment for my eating disorder and the therapist said to me, “You don’t have to listen to your own thoughts. You don’t have to immediately do what they are telling you to do. Because right now, your own thoughts about food are killing you, not helping you.” It was at that exact moment that I realized how many lies I had let get ingrained into my mind. Because I thought it was ME talking to ME. And I wanted to keep myself alive and safe right? How could my thoughts be lying to me?
But the enemy was in such control of my thoughts and actions, I couldn’t hear my real voice. And I for sure couldn’t hear God’s. When I started fighting the ED, the enemy’s voice got louder, and more fearful. But I heard whispers of the real me, telling me to keep going and keep fighting, urging me to keep eating the scary foods. I started doing a devotional every morning, and slowly, those words of peace seeped into me. Slowly I got myself back. And once I was back, I continued to fight.
The bad news is, that these thoughts about yourself that the enemy has ingrained in you will never fully go away. As someone in FULL eating disorder recovery, even now I get fearful thoughts about food. But, I’ve retrained my brain to fight back. With the help of God and His healing hand, I can talk back to those thoughts. They don’t control me anymore. I tell those thoughts that they are lying to me, and that I am safe. That I’m not going to die if I eat that food.
You can do the same thing. You can tell yourself that you are good enough. You can tell yourself that you are worthy enough. You can start fighting back! But it comes down to YOU. There is no magic pill to save you. No single time that you say it and it makes it all go away.
The enemy has been lying to you consistently for a long time. To fight back, you have to consistently speak truth, love, self-worth and God’s love over yourself. Not just for a day, or a week, but forever. Remind yourself continually how much God loves you. How worthy you are to be treated with respect, love and patience. How beautiful you are because you were made by the hands of the One who created the stars. How much purpose you have because God did not make a mistake in creating you.
At times, it is going to be so difficult. When it’s loud, it’s loud! I know it is. I’ve been there. But you are worth it. Just start out with that simple statement when your self talk gets negative. “I am worthy because I am God’s child”.
Start there. See where it goes. Re-label yourself based on what God says about you, not what your thoughts label you.
I hope that you will stick around and explore more of the devotionals that I’ve written through my Eating Disorder Recovery and my battle with anxiety.
I’ve also written a few long term devotionals that you can find in my store! Make sure to check these out!
I also do a DAILY devotional on my Instagram @heightsinheels ! In this space you see daily inspirational posts, as well as a daily Instagram Story of me doing a devotional with you! In September 2020 we are doing a daily devotional on Self Confidence! Make sure to get your FREE copy of this by clicking HERE. I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!
Interested in an Inspirational Food Journal? I have a full month one! Click here to get yours today!
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I am AWLAYS praying for you,
