Sometimes it takes all the strength we have to just keep our mouth closed when our hearts so need to express how we feel. After all, it is not a good feeling to keep things that bother us inside, not to mention it harms our bodies. There are times when I feel I have mastered “being slow to speak” and wait for the better moment to speak when my thoughts will come out better. I don’t always succeed at this goal though. I do know that when I do wait there is a special reward that comes with it. God never gives us direction without some sort of good result when we have achieved the goal. Sometimes that reward is peace, which is a huge accomplishment. If peace were an island I would book a sail boat to live there right now.
Maybe the idea is to experience enough peace that we come to want it so bad that we will do anything to get it; even be slow to speak when the moment arises. I know that I love that reward even though I can fall short of obtaining it if I am not more careful. A type of empowerment happens when we speak our truth to others and sometimes when we don’t it comes at a difficult price. Achieving balance in this is really not easy but when it is obtained there is a huge reward on many levels. We have to want it bad enough. Once we want something bad enough we will act upon it even if it means keeping our mouth shut when we really need to.
There is a lot of reward in waiting as well. Sometimes things work themselves out while we wait for a more calm moment. That’s a huge bonus! Peace comes as a blessing. Bridling the tongue is a masterful art not to be scoffed at. Sometimes we are like a trash compactor of emotions from wounds of the past that have been stuffed down so much that even a tiny release of it can bring immediate destruction. I’m thinking the atomic bomb has nothing on compacted emotion. It can be a volatile situation. Everyone needs a safe release. I don’t believe God intended us to not have that, but I do believe He empowers us to release it safely. I also don’t feel God intended us to only release it to Him, although that is a beginning. This does not mean I feel He is not powerful enough to take all of our pain, when I know He really is. Going to Him first can truly allow Him to calm the seas inside of us before they come out our mouth. It is true that “out of the heart the mouth speaks”. Part of our empowerment is speaking our truth though. We need others when we do this. Speaking it in a Godly ordered way brings it out where it is safe and can be comforted by someone who understands. Obtaining understanding is a huge human need, in fact a lot of our difficult issues spawn forth through trying to obtain understanding of our hearts. As people, we feel like if we are not understood then we are not accepted either. Acceptance is real important to us. For some reason we wrap this all into a ball so we can determine if we are loved or not. True power comes in knowing we are loved no matter what but sometimes we need to dig through the trash compactor to find the place that will also accept ourselves enough to be loved as well.
All of these things are why I truly believe in good counseling. We all need each other. Counseling says that we love ourselves enough to heal and we love others enough not to wound them more.
Now that is powerful!
Sincerely Yours,
Rev Jenine Marie Howry
Life Lessons by Jenine Marie 