29 October 2008

Psalm 39:1-5
1 I said to myself, “I will watch what I do
and not sin in what I say.
I will hold my tongue
when the ungodly are around me.”
2 But as I stood there in silence—
not even speaking of good things—
the turmoil within me grew worse.
3 The more I thought about it,
the hotter I got,
igniting a fire of words:
4 “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”

One of the things that I have been learning recently is that I need to be able to express my feelings or distaste in a manner that will allow others to see Christ through me and not Eric Scheidt. When I was a child I was told on more than one occasion to think before I spoke. This has become one of my practices. Many times I think and ponder exactly what to say and realize that I can’t say what I want to say without it becoming offensive and so I just bottle it up. When I finally do talk about the issue then it is and explosion and the little issue has now become a huge issue. What I take out of today’s verses is that I cannot bottle up inside my problems. I have to give them to the Lord. He has a great ear and will listen to our issues. Many times it is much easier to talk out the problem and just listen to what you perceive is the issue. Before long God will show you how to approach those who you have ill against. One of the biggest things though is not allowing your feelings to get in the way of what is really going on. Remember there is a spiritual battle being waged. We will not win the spiritual battle on our own. We must have God’s weapons and his armor to win.