Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Speak

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash 

"I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
Exodus 4:12

Speak. Words fill our world. On our phones and computers we text and message and email. We read and write blogs and articles. On TV, the radio, podcasts, audio books, we hear words. In our interactions with people in person, we fill the air with words.  

Do we need more words?
Or do we need different words?

I sometimes pray Ephesians 4:29 for myself: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Words that build others up, encouraging words, are a joy. They soothe our souls. But sometimes silence is helpful, too. Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there is "a time to be silent and a time to speak;"  

How do we know when to speak and when to be silent?  Or what to say?  God told Moses, "I will help you speak and give you the words."  Jesus told the disciples something similar. Luke 12:12 says, "The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at the moment when you need them."

I have a hard time trusting God for this. What if I get stuck? What if I blurt out something God didn't give me to say?  Sometimes it's tempting to give up trying or to think words don't matter. But they do.  And somehow God gets the right words through despite my fears, and despite all the noise.

Thanks, God.

"So speak life, speak life
To the deadest darkest night
Speak life, speak life
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why
Look into the eyes of the broken hearted
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope
You speak love, you speak
You speak life"

Toby Mac
Songwriters: Jamie Moore / Ryan Stevenson / Toby Mckeehan
Speak Life lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group, Capitol CMG Publishing

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