Has the enemy ever
told you something along these lines: “You can’t tell people what God is
doing in your life because you aren’t very good at articulating your
thoughts. Keep it to yourself. Let the eloquent speakers share; what
they have to say is of more value because it sounds prettier coming out
of their mouth. That person has letters behind their name, you should
just listen. If you want to speak, get some credentials. Until then, you
should ignore any inclination you have to speak about your walk with
Jesus...I mean, who do you think you are? Are you so proud? Do you
really think you’re so 'special' that you have something to ADD to the life
of the Church?! God wants you to be humble, that means you be quiet and
listen. A teachable person listens and doesn’t speak, you want to be
teachable and humble, right? Besides, that thing you were considering
sharing, in the whole scheme of things, it’s nothing; why would anyone
want to spend time hearing about your little struggles or your little
victories or you little life? Head down, mouth shut...that’s want
‘living a quiet and peaceable life’ means.”
If he has, I just
want to remind you of one little thing: The enemy is a big, fat liar.
Yes, a liar. And not just a slimy, twisting liar, but a being in
passionate pursuit of destroying the people of God, stealing the glory
of God and hindering the power of God from playing out in the broken
world.
I think it is important to get a conversation going, this
requires words. For me, because God made me introspective, I am
completely uncomfortable when I don't understand how I am doing or where
I am at. I confront my emotions and deal with the circumstances of my
life because I am unable to stuff things (for better or for worse).
Because of my reflective nature, I embrace the invitation to stand
before the Father in Christ with boldness and without shame--just as I
am--with great joy. I process through my emotions and pains and
confusions and questions in the presence of the Lord and the Truth of
His word. I know who I am before the Creator God who defines me. That
means, if I can boldly stand without shame before God, I can express the
things I am struggling with and learning about with boldness and
without shame before people. And I have found that the more I see and
understand about what God is doing in me and around me, the less I can
hold it in. But the more I share it, the more I hear the reasons why
many around me AREN’T sharing. They are silently living their lives with
Jesus because they "aren’t very eloquent of speech," the things they’re
learning "are just too insignificant," they "aren’t qualified" to have a
voice in people’s lives, etc. etc. (I can understand believing all of
these things, I’ve been silent because of them far too many times
myself.) So I find that while many people will listen to my life and my
revelations and my struggles and my victories, they hold back from
sharing with me their own.
But what is unfortunate about this
one-sided conversation (other than the fact that I desperately want to
hear from them), is that I firmly believe that the act of articulating
your thoughts and the work God is doing in you is a wonderful way of
observing them fully and allowing them to solidify in your heart and
mind. I honestly think it’s a vital step in completing the process of
the work God does in each of us: Put it in words--eloquent or ineloquent
is not the point--and share it.
I would encourage each of you
to line up your excuses (such as the ones listed above) and shoot them
down with Truth. Here is an example:
LIE: I’m not good at articulating myself.
TRUTH:
In the book of Exodus, God told Moses He was going to use him to free
His people from slavery, the largest exodus of all time. Upon hearing
this, barefoot in the presence of a holy God, Moses presented Him with
lots of reasons why he wasn’t the right man for the job; after all, he
wasn’t just ineloquent, he was slow of speech and tongue. Was God’s hand
shortened because of Moses’ deficits? Absolutely not. God took what
Moses DID have (ie a simple staff and an ineloquent, slow tongue) and
freed 600,000 male slaves (if you add the women and children, the number
could have been around ~2,400,000).
Because here is the truth:
The work of God in our lives belongs to Him. His work in us points to
Him, magnifies Him, glorifies Him, and reflects Him. It is not
self-exalting to share it because ultimately, it isn’t about us; it’s
about Jesus. And the power of our testimony doesn’t lie in the eloquence
of our words, it lies in Jesus. So we can offer up the words we do
have--jumbled or stumbled or stuttered doesn’t matter--they are filled
with potential because they are backed by pure, edifying power of our
magnificent God.
All this was really just a very long way of
exhorting you to fight your excuses! Put the enemy in his place, why
should he get to dictate what comes out of our mouths and what stays in?
Let's let the Lord direct our tongues. Can you imagine how much
potential there is for growth and for an offering of praise and glory to
the Lord if we would boldly testify to one another and invite each
other into the inter workings of our daily walk with Him?! Jesus said,
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If the work of
God in your heart DOESN’T overflow out of your mouth, then I would
encourage you to ponder it until it does.
And then tell me about it. :)
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