我们今天要来到从迷惘到信靠的第九个步骤：提醒自己神在过去信实的证据，并不断向自己讲述这些事情。

来到这儿我们需要暂停阅读哈巴谷书，因为要为我们往后几天建立一个思考的根基。请让我问你：你有没有试过对自己说话？没有吗？那么容许我纠正一点──其实你在清醒的时候几乎每分钟都在跟自己说话，虽然你没有发觉，因为那是在潜意识下发生的。事实上，无论我们生命中有甚么事情发生，我们都借着对自己讲述那事情作为一种回应。心理学家称这为「建议式控制的理论」，我们跟自己说出一句一句的话，而我们对自己所说的话，哪怕是在潜意识中，也会影响我们对事情的感受。

相信你有听过别人提出这样的问题：为甚么我会有这种感觉？不错，为甚么人们对事情总会有某种特定的感觉？那是因为我们的感受，在很大程度上是我们思考的直接后果。如果你在回应一件负面或者是不快乐的事情而问自己说：「为甚么这事情会发生在我身上？」，那我们不难预测你会有甚么样的感受──忧愁和沮丧。相反的要是你在回应的时候对自己说：「神爱我，祂永远不会容许任何事情发生，除非那件事合乎神明智和爱的目的。」这样你就会有完全不同的感受。为甚么呢？因为你的想法引领你的感受，就像小鸭跟随鸭妈妈一样。

We come now to the ninth step in our progression : remind yourself of the evidences of God's faithfulness in the past and constantly talk to yourself about them.

At this point, we are going to leave Habakkuk just for a moment to lay down a foundation for our thinking over the next few days. Let me ask you: Do you ever talk to yourself? No? Then permit me to correct you. Although you don't realise it - because it goes on just below the threshold of awareness - you talk to yourself almost every minute of your waking day. Whatever event takes place in our lives, we respond to that event by talking to ourselves about it. Psychologists call this the "theory of propositional control" - we talk to ourselves in sentences. And what we tell ourselves, even subconsciously, will determine the way we feel about issues.

Have you heard someone ask the question: Why do I feel this way? Well, why do people feel a particular way about things? It is because our feelings are largely the direct consequence of our thinking. If you respond to a negative or unpleasant event by saying to yourself "Why should this happen to me?" then it is not difficult to predict how you will feel - sad and depressed. But if you respond by telling yourself, "God loves me and will never allow anything to happen to me unless it accords with a wise and loving purpose", you will feel quite different. Why? Because your feelings follow your thinking - just like little ducklings follow their mother.