Tis The Season
The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakens me morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as a disciple (one who is taught). The Lord God has opened my ear, and I have not been rebellious or turned backward (Isaiah 50:4).
A word in season . . . Hm-m. After the verbal free-for-all of opinions and railings we’ve been hearing lately, that’d be a refreshing change. Tension is mounting; fuses are short. Sharp tongues have sliced and diced, and all but made mincemeat of others. Why, just last week I too exchanged words with a man behind me in a slow-moving line at a store. He made a curt remark to me and I snapped back. Afterward, I was appalled—not by his words but by my hair-trigger response. The Lord certainly had something else in mind when He said He would make us into new threshing instruments having teeth (Isaiah 41:15)! My husband can attest to my occasional barbed tongue with him, but a stranger? And just in time for the holidays. Lord, have mercy!
What better time than during this holiday season—midst the cacophony of voices that are tearing down and ripping apart—for the ‘word in season’ anointing to flow through the body of Christ? What better time for our unruly members (my unruly member) to speak blessing, not cursing, life instead of death (Proverbs 18:21)?
I’m talking about something more than the kind words we speak (or should speak) to passersby. Wouldn’t a word straight from God’s heart be a wonderful gift to give the weary? An apples-of-gold-in-pictures-of-silver word (Proverbs 25:11) that reveals God’s heart and so impacts the hearer with divine grace, that twenty years from now they’d be saying, “I don’t remember what the guy/gal looked like, but I’ll never forget what he/she said.”.
Which I am learning is easier said than done. First of all, a word in season is truly a gift from God from start to finish—what that word is, who needs to hear it, how to best speak it, and when to deliver it. Not only does content matter, but timing. It’s a gift that comes with instructions and requires a schooled ear to hear and a schooled tongue to pass it along. Thankfully, our Teacher is more than willing to train us in the particulars.
So, Lord, we ask for a word in season this holiday season. Fine tune our ears to hear what You are saying. School us in how to speak it. Show us who needs to hear it, and when it will have its greatest impact. Like our Forerunner, Jesus, cause gracious words to flow from our lips (Luke 4:22). Use our tongues to encourage and edify, to admonish, and support (1 Thessalonians 5:11,14). In Jesus’ Name.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving this coming week! I am so thankful for you! We'll connect again in December.