Think about a time when God changed your plans.
Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
When have you heard God say, Turn here?
(I heard it last Tuesday. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.)
Imagine that every word you spoke yesterday fell to the floor. Sweep them into three piles: kind words, angry words, neutral words. “Please pass the salt” counts as neutral (polite does not equal kind).
Which pile is bigg
est?
Amy Wilson Carmichael (1867–1951), missionary to India, is best known for her work rescuing young women from forced prostitution. Her wisdom still applies:
“For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted.”
It is easy to think that words just fade into the air. Without consequences. But those words have power I don’t see. They leave tracks in our brains–for good or evil. Blessings or curses.
James 3:10 (NIV)
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Oh Lord, forgive my stubborn, hurtful words.
Psalm 19:14
May these words of my mouth . . .
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
I am reading a book, Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain, on the importance of early language development.
I learned that words aren’t just essential to communication, they set up neural pathways that define future aptitude. Think of the first three years: a baby with no words becomes that toddler with a thousands whats and whys.
John 1:1 (NIV)
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Beginning . . . Word . . . God. It’s God’s glorious plan to start us off with words.
As I get older, things get harder. How about you?
I thought about my “senior moments,” when I can’t find the word I want. I know it would be almost impossible to learn a new language at my age. I asked, Why, Lord, does it get harder as I get older?
It is easier for you to hear me.
Indeed. To God be the glory!
I’ve heard Christians say, “I need a church where I’m fed.”
The Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 led his sheep to the green pasture. There’s nothing about him pulling up the grass and putting it in their mouths. Looks to me like the sheep still had to eat on their own.
So when someone says “I’m not being fed here,” I think they really mean “The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.”
Jeremiah 1:4 (NIV)
The Word of the LORD came to me
saying . . .
Lord, give me ears that hear (and a heart willing to study).
Amen.
Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV)
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.
Is God’s Word “the delight of your heart”? Do you take joy in Bible study? No? What you need is more of it. It’s like asparagus–it’s an acquired taste.
When I was a child, I hated asparagus. Decades later, I have my own asparagus patch.
When I was a child, I wanted Bible stories, not Bible study. Now I write Bible studies. Start nibbling around the edges–you’ll learn to love it.
