Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
Proverbs 12
Proverbs 12:23 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. NIV.
Recently I spoke at a day-long event with about ninety in attendance. Normally I feel no apprehension before I speak. This time I did and that included insomnia the evening before. Few people knew I was sharing my testimony and only one knew of my apprehension. My spouse affirmed my decision to speak, allowed me to express my confusion at my apprehension, sat close during the meeting preliminaries, and after my talk concluded affirmed me and said that I illustrated the maxim “Don’t leave before the miracle happens.” What comfort and encouragement. Her kind words cheered me up.
What weighs you down? Is it a medical diagnosis or condition, financial concerns, a lost job, deadlines, relationship challenges, or loneliness? Whatever it may be (and there are almost as many possibilities as there are people facing them), when our hearts are anxious, we are weighed down. We lose our vitality and motivation. Maybe, like me, you isolate and don’t easily share what’s going on inside. It is oddly ironic that when we keep the weight in our heart hidden it continues to add pounds until it become almost unbearable.
God’s chosen means to ease that burden is an encouraging word. That is why the Bible encourages us to season our speech like popcorn is seasoned with salt. For me, I have found encouragement in sharing my inner life with a few close spiritual friends. By doing that I allow them to speak words of encouragement into my life. Usually, they offer perspective on the situation and so ease the burden. Often, they remind me of God’s provision and love over my life. Sometimes they simply say, “I care.” These words life my spirits and ease my burden.
This is the reason I seek to heed Scripture’s admonition in Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. If I practice speaking only encouraging, affirming, and loving messages to the people in my life, I have the most opportunities to lift people’s hearts and lighten their loads.
Father, let the words of my mouth be acceptable in Your eyes and encouragement to people’s hearts. Amen.
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