The stories we tell ourselves

On Sunday, Dave shared a powerful real-life story about the America’s Cup sailing race. While the U.S. had experienced a 132-year winning streak, the Australians were able to put an end to that when they won the America’s Cup in 1983—despite what seemed like insurmountable odds. Part of the equation for their victory had to do with their boat design, but the other major factor for their win was that they intentionally rehearsed a new narrative in their minds. Instead of a narrative that focused on America’s winning streak, each member of the Australian team listened to a recording of their own team winning the race (the recording included narration and the sound of a sailboat cutting through the water), and they did this twice a day for 3 years! As author Mark Batterson said, “Before even setting sail, they had won the race 2,190 times! How did the Australian team bury a long losing streak? They flipped the script! They told themselves a different story over and over again. They won the race because they won the day— 1,095 days in a row!”

Have you ever stopped to consider what stories you are telling yourself? Are they life-giving and hope-filled, or do they leave you feeling weary and deflated? Do they line up/agree with God’s Word and His truths?

In Psalm 51:6a we are told that God desires truth in our innermost being. He wants every thought and every picture/scenario we play out in our minds to be informed and guided by truth. Philippians 4:8 gives us further guidelines for our thought processes and imagination when it says that we are to fix our “thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

For better or worse, the stories we tell ourselves have an incredible impact on our lives– and the lives of others. It’s exciting to think that God has given us the ability to be in charge of our thinking and our minds (we are not victims to our thoughts!)! With the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us and His promise to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), we have incredible potential to make significant shifts in our thinking that will allow us to experience greater transformation and incredible victories in our lives!

EXERCISE— Ask the Lord if there is any area of your life where it’s time for you to “flip the script” and create a new narrative. Ask Him for revelation regarding the new story that He wants you to rehearse in your mind. Then take a few minutes to see how He might respond. (If you don’t receive an answer immediately, take heart and know that He will reveal this to you at just the right time)