When did you last do an audit of the words you speak? Are you speaking “faith and life” or “fear and death”?

Late last year we were facing another challenging medical situation with our daughter, Victoria. I found myself going down that path of fear. I was spending time with God, a lot actually due to a broken wrist slowing me down! In these times I was primarily looking for reassurance and comfort. I was not speaking faith into Victoria’s situation.

Something changed in the Be Still moment

But then something changed.

During one of those quiet times with God, I was sitting on a seat in the park, asking Him for a word for our family for this year, 2024. Yes, another Be Still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10) moment. He drew my attention to an image that was directly in front of me - two rectangular sandstone blocks, with a narrow gap in between.

 

Beyond the gap, the grass ran down to the wide open expanse of the lake. As I looked at this image, God gave me these words, “I am the Way Maker.” 

Don’t we all love the Way Maker song

"Way maker
Miracle worker
Promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God
That is who you are"

What a powerful declaration of Who God is.

God's Word speaks life

God gave me three scriptures to go with the image:

“This is what the LORD says - he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,” Isaiah 43:16 NIV

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 NIV

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 NIV

Three life-giving scriptures, asking of us, Do we have the faith to believe that God made a way through the sea? Do we trust that He is making a way in the wasteland? Do we have the courage to keep walking on the narrow road that leads to life?

God in His graciousness had given me a way to speak faith and life into Victoria’s situation. 

God encourages each one

A bit more on this story about the way maker word ….

At the beginning of each year when I get a word for our family, I make an A4 poster, laminate it and give a copy to each family member, so they can have it ready on hand for encouragement throughout the year.  I'm under no illusion as to what has happened to these posters in the past - I've seen them peeking out from under a pile of papers on desks!

But this year was different - perhaps because it had the photo of the sandstone blocks and the way through. This year some chose to put the poster on the wall above their desks, some on the wall near their beds. But all put it in a visible, easily accessible place. I need that extra bit of encouragement so I have two posters - one near my desk, and one near my side of the bed! 

The Way Maker makes a way

Since the beginning of January, there have been at least 8 significant crossroads for people in our family, and each time, we have called on this word from God, declaring, “God you are the way maker, we are trusting that you will make a way through this - Your will be done, in Jesus Name.” 

God knew that each person in our family was going to need to speak ‘faith and life’ into situations this year, and that each would need His encouragement to do so. God always knows!

In each circumstance God has clearly made a way, showing us that He is sovereign, powerful, gracious and kind. Often too in these situations, it has felt like God has been asking us these questions, Do you trust Me in this situation? Do you have the patience to wait? Will you humble yourself and acknowledge that I am Lord of All? Oh God so wants us to mature!

Maturing in our faith

James speaks to us about this maturing process, 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV

I’m not always a fan of the maturing process, even though it always yields good fruit - I just have to remind myself of that. Joyce Meyer says, 

“The Bible talks about purification, sanctification, sacrifice and suffering. These are not popular words; nevertheless, if we are to be Christlike in character, we must sometimes go through difficult circumstances to learn His ways. I struggled with this process for a long time, but I finally realised that God was not going to do things my way. He placed people and situations in my life that caused me to want to quit this whole process, and He did not want an argument from me. He only wanted to hear, “Yes, Lord. Your will be done.”" The Everyday Life Bible, Joyce Meyer, Page 2060

It is only the beginning of March, so it is going to be very interesting to see what the remainder of the year brings with a word like “I am the Way Maker”

The power of the tongue

So getting back to the words we are speaking, are they “faith and life” or “fear and death”? Further on in James Chapter 3, we read about the power of the tongue. Verse 5 says,

“Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!” (James 3:5 AMPC)

Funnily enough, I was listening to my husband doing his Sunday morning radio program on Rhema 99.7FM yesterday morning, and I heard him sharing on this scripture too. God must really want to say something about the power of the tongue this week.

I know there are times when I have said things, mainly to my family, that I have regretted as soon as they have come out of my mouth. 

The tongue can spark a fire

It's an interesting analogy that James draws with the tongue and the starting of a forest fire. I have certainly experienced the power of my tongue starting a war of words in our home, and it hasn’t been pretty. I have regretted the words as soon as they have come out, but like that spark in the forest - once it is out, it is very difficult to contain! Of course in hindsight, I know it definitely would have been better to leave the room, or at the very least take a long pause and count to 10 (or maybe 100)!

Warren W. Wiersbe, in his commentary on James, Be Mature, Growing up in Christ, reminds us that Jesus experienced the wrath of the tongue,

“Fire burns and hurts, and our words can burn and hurt. One of the sorrows our Lord had to bear when He was here on earth was the way His enemies talked about Him. They called Him a “man gluttonous and a winebibber” (Matthew 11:29) because He graciously accepted invitations to dine with people the Pharisee did not like. When He performed miracles, they said He was in league with Satan. Even when He was dying on the cross, His enemies could not let Him alone but threw vicious taunts into His face.” Be Mature - Growing up in Christ, Warren W. Wierbse, Page 102

Can we tame the tongue?

So can we tame the tongue? Yes we can. But not by ourselves. We need God’s help. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can develop the fruit listed in Galatians. We can display that fruit through our speech and communications:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Imagine if every word we spoke came from the place of love, loving Jesus and loving people, with our selfish desires nowhere to be seen (or heard!).

Imagine if our words brought peace into a situation, rather than adding fuel to it.

Imagine if the way we communicated was always from a place of forbearance, exuding patience and never with that, ‘Will you just hurry up’ tone.

Imagine if we had self-control and chose not to speak on occasions and let the Holy Spirit bring conviction.

The Holy Spirit can help us

The good news is that with the help of the Holy Spirit, these things can become a reality in our lives. It probably won’t happen overnight (that certainly hasn’t been my experience), but rather little by little as we let the Holy Spirit do transformative work in our lives - the consecration process.

Here are a couple of specific scriptures that have helped me in this area - 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NKJV

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalm 141:3 NIV

I have found both these Psalms are wonderful prayers to pray regularly, especially before any tricky conversations.

Are you speaking "faith and life"?

So back to those two questions I started with, When did you last do an audit of the words you speak? Are you speaking “faith and life” or “fear and death”?  

If, in considering the answers to these questions, you feel the Holy Spirit is nudging you to make some changes, so you can speak more "faith and life" into your life or those around you, then let's pray and ask Him for that help.

Holy Spirit, we thank you that you are a gift in our lives to help us become more like Jesus. Please help me to mature so that Your fruit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, are very evident in my life, especially in the words I speak and how I communicate. Thank you that you will help me so that the words I speak will be acceptable to you. Thank you that you will put a guard over my mouth in those moments when I want to say something that is going to inflame a situation or hurt someone. Thank you for your graciousness towards me, and that you will continue to help me, even when I get it wrong. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

Looking for more encouragement?

Are you looking for more resources to help you draw closer to God, please check out my other blog posts and podcasts.