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Yes...I...struggle...for...words!

They do not come easy for me.

Penning several monthly columns, devotionals for other sites, and my own blog posts is definitely very frustrating. With a couple of learning disabilities, I struggle to craft the right words, but I do it in obedience for, to this, the Lord has called me.

Besides writing, talking is made more difficult because the greedy fingers of fibromyalgia grab at my brain, snatching out words, even the simplest ones, and leaving behind gaps in my memory. Completing a sentence is sometimes impossible.

But do I wrestle to craft those words that will jump off the end of my tongue as much as I wrestle over my writing? Do I think before those words leap out? Usually...but sometimes, I don’t and I get into trouble.

Should I be concerned about finding the right words to say? Jesus says I should, “On the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak…Your words now reflect your fate then: either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36 Amp, Matt. 12:37 TLB)

Wow! That is truly hard to comprehend, isn’t it? If we are required to answer for our speech, then we need to be cautious of what exits our mouths, for, as Jesus said, “Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech.” (Luke 6:45b TLB)

The English biblical commentator and Presbyterian minister Matthew Henry wrote, “The heart is the root, the language is the fruit.” We cannot have the sweet nectar of a fruitful, positive confession if the root system of our hearts maintains sour or rotten thoughts. A change in the root system will produce a change in the fruit of speech.

Consequently, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth…and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil].” (Prov. 18:20a NKJV, Prov. 18:20b Amp)

Solomon warns us, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23 Masoretic Text) Another version says, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” (Prov. 4:23 NCV) And will jump off the end of your tongue!

Some say, “I don’t see that my words matter that much.” Well, our words do matter. If our tongues speak from the abundance of our hearts, and if Jesus and Scripture say our words are critical, then, our words really have extraordinary power and effect, embodying life and death, just as Solomon said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Prov. 18:21a NKJV)

The Message version puts it this way, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” So, who in their right mind would choose death over life, poison over fruit? We do!

The words we speak can set our lives on fire for harm or for good. Our words can bring others to tears or lift their spirits. Our words can even change the atmosphere around us.

Therefore, Paul urges us, “Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.” (Phil. 1:27a KJV) This means we are to behave and speak as a citizen of the Kingdom and worthily reflect on the Gospel.

Knowing the consequences of his thoughts and words, David prayed, “Take control of what I say, O LORD, and guard my lips.” (Ps. 141:3 NLT) Therefore, “we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5b GNT)

My prayer is this: Lord, in my word struggle, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14 NLT)

What about you? Do you struggle to carefully craft those words, taking captive those thoughts, before they roll off the end of your tongue?



***A portion of the above is taken from my upcoming book Ready or Not...Here I Come!

Today's post is part of...

“And taking him aside from the crowd [privately]...”(Mark 7:33a Amp)
Have you ever had a deep, dark struggle in your life? Most of us have. I have. And it sent me to my knees to seek the Lord. During that time of struggle, I wrote this...

Oh, from these bars of confinement shutting me in, I cry out to God. From this darkness surrounding me, all seems lost. Yet, I know all things are sifted through the loving fingers of my precious Lord. Wishing to commune with me, He allows this thing to touch my life.

Though others see not my streaming tears, the Lord sees my aching heart and gently wipes away those tears. “Nearly all God’s jewels are crystallized tears,” someone once said.

Too many voices clamor for my attention. Wearied from the noise of the world, my ears impatiently wait for the comforting sound of His voice. The Lord “takes me aside from the crowd privately” into absolute aloneness with Him, that I may listen only to Him. His words of love and comfort speak thunderously in this solitude.

When darkness and loneliness loom endlessly, they yet result in the richest and most rewarding of all spiritual experiences, for it is then that I see my darkness is but the overshadowing of the wings of the Lord, and I await the radiance of His glorious light to fall from heaven that I might behold my precious Savior.

The Lord’s purpose in taking me aside is never immediately discerned. However, getting my attention and bringing me into a deeper relationship with Him is always His will in my blackest hours.

The Holy Spirit comes as the dew of dawn to silently dispense His peace and comfort. In waves of coolness, He breathes upon me like a refreshing wind.

This parched mortal vessel yearns to be filled with those Living Waters provided only by the Lord. His peace pours forth as an endless river, rushing over me to cleanse all that would obstruct my view of Him. As I go to the Well, I drink in His Life and I am revitalized.

Then, I sing of His wonders and tell of His glories, and my walls of confinement fade into nothingness. The way opens before me. I see His brilliant, glistening footsteps on the path before me as if sprinkled with the glitter of heavenly dust, and only the light of praise brings them into focus.

Not all my questions are answered nor all my longings appeased, but His gracious mercy provides the path of recovery to soundness, to wholeness, to a larger place, to Himself.

It is for this that I praise Him...for “taking me aside.”

~~Lord, may rivers of blessings be poured out to other parched souls because of my desert. I pray that freedom may come to them out of my confinement, that light for blind eyes may come out of my darkness, and that comfort for the hurting may come out of my loneliness. Amen.~~



Today, I'm hooking up with...

Canvas Child's Imperfect Prose on Thursdays...


Reflections of His Grace...


Coming soon...

Today, I bring you my special guest poster, Deborah McCarragher…

I was listening to a Christian radio program while driving home the other day, and started thinking about how I often struggle with God over things in prayer. Sometimes that can be a good thing!

Many of us know the story of Jacob in Genesis chapter 32. Jacob was returning to his homeland in Canaan with his two wives, Rachel and Leah. On the way, he sent messengers to his brother Esau (who dwelt in Edom) to appease him.

However, Jacob’s servants told him that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob was distressed and divided his people, flocks, and herd into two companies. He begged God to intervene and protect him from harm. He reminded God of His promise to bless him and make his descendants innumerable.

During the night, he took his two wives, his servants, and his sons and crossed over the river Jabbok. When he was alone, a Man (Jesus) wrestled with him all night until daybreak. Jacob struggled with the Lord, and that day he saw God face to face.

Jacob wanted God’s blessing, but God was letting him struggle that he might truly see who he was in God’s sight. Jacob had been a deceiver and scoundrel much of his life. God asked him, “What is your name?” – not because He didn’t know it, but because Jacob needed to see himself as God saw him. The struggle produced a hip out of socket and a limp for the rest of his natural life.

Sometimes, God allows us to struggle with Him in prayer, and we are often crippled for our own good. Spiritually speaking, our view of ourselves and our problems need to be bent and dislocated in order for our struggling to cease. Our pride and bad judgment can cause us to live a life that distorts what God has planned for us. He desires for us to “walk a different way” after we have wrestled with Him and He has prevailed.

Submitting to God’s plans often involves wrestling, as is evidenced with some of the Bible’s great heroes. Abraham’s faith was tested when he dialoged with God about the wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18).

Moses pleaded with God on behalf of Israel when they began worshipping a golden calf and foreign gods. He reminded God of His promises to His chosen people (Exodus 32).

We read in I Kings 19 about Elijah and his struggle with depression. After God’s miraculous display of His power on Mount Carmel, Elijah withdrew into the desert to die. He prayed, slept, and was nourished by the Lord Himself. Then while hiding in a cave, he had a pity party as God revealed Himself to him in a small, still voice.

David was alone and living on the run during his darkest days. He lamented to God in many of the Psalms including 35, 55, 56, 57, and 59. He despaired of his life and longed for the peace of death. Praying to his God seemed to be a lesson in futility.

The apostle Paul tells believers in Romans 15:30 to “strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” In Colossians 4:2, Paul admonishes the church to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving,” and in 4:12, he tells them that Epaphras, one of their fellow servants, “always labors fervently for them in prayer.”

Prayer is often the anguish of the soul in the presence of God. Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

The bottom line is that prayer is often engaging and deliberate. It’s emotionally draining and often exhausting. It’s exhilarating and soul-satisfying as we wrestle with a Holy God who sees our frailties and embraces our humble efforts.

What a mighty God we serve…

You can visit Deborah on her blog God Mission Possible.

Deborah's book Mission Possible is available at Alabaster Box Publishing.