to tell more and talk less

I talk a lot. I know that may surprise some of you considering how brief my posts typically are (ha, ha, ha), but I really do enjoy a great conversation. Every person has a story and I love to hear them. I love to share my story and interweave it with God's redemptive love and abiding faithfulness. I love to talk.

I definitely believe that God has called us to speak out and share openly about what God has done. He calls us to declare His faithfulness among the people and to tell of His wonderful deeds (1 Chronicles 16:8,9; Psalm 9:1; Psalm 26:7, to name a few). I believe that too many Christians are too quiet. God has called us to share our story and to tell of His redemption, and this does require sharing a bit of where He brought us from. I am not saying that we ought to hang all of our dirty laundry out for the world to see, but I do think we need to share (as is appropriate of course) our redemption story. There is this idea that as Christians we must 'have it together' and show no flaw, but in reality that will be our demise. As I look back upon my life, I see a littered trail of pride, shame, toil, doubt and failure. There are seasons that I see success, and there are seasons that I see more failure than anything. There are seasons that I see pain and heartache, and there are seasons that I see love and healing. The scarlet thread that is weaving all of those together is the very presence of Christ. There were definitely times that I was oblivious to His presence in my life and even failed to believe that He was present. His presence in my life however did not depend on my belief and as I look back I can see that.

You have a story the world needs to hear. In a world that is so riddled with pain and despair, we must stand on the roof tops and shout praises to His name. For He has come to seek and save that which is lost and I was most definitely one of those! We need to share our imperfections because alongside that we can speak loudly of His perfection. That is what it is all about--taking the glory from our own pitiful self righteousness and transferring it to God's complete righteousness. This is a story the world needs to hear.

Alongside this however, God calls us to be "quick to listen and slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires." (James 1: 19, 20) I find it interesting that God's Word puts the failure to listen and anger together. If I look at my marriage and my parenting, I see continually how these things go hand in hand. We have much to gain by quieting our mouths and listening to others. While the Holy Spirit can be heard through what we say, there are a great many times that the Holy Spirit can be heard through our ability to take interest in others and listen.

As you are looking ahead to a new year, a new decade and new chapter in the story God is writing of your life, I pray that you will unashamedly tell stories of God's kindness and faithfulness to you. I pray that you will take the time to listen to the stories of others. I pray that your tongue will remain silent and your ears open when needed and that you will see great benefit from that. I pray that you will see others encouraged through the words of your mouth as you share a story that the world needs to hear.
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