Speak Life by Toby Mac

Isaiah 51:77 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. (KJV)

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

The prophet Isaiah is speaking for the Lord telling His people to, “Listen up!” those who know the Law of God and who are righteous (meaning they have believed God), He wants them and us to understand this truth: You do not need to fear what others have to say against you or about you!

I have a few people in life that make me shake in my shoes. Why do I worry about these two or three who think I am a sorry excuse for a human being because I have done what I firmly believe to be the right thing to do and what the Lord has led me to do? The fact of the matter is this: I agree with them! What I am doing “feels” all wrong, dumb and makes absolutely no sense. Here is the TRUTH-God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and not one thing the Lord did in Scripture makes a lick of sense from our human perspective. For example: Does building a boat that took 100 years to build and there has never been a drop of rain make sense? Does picking up a stone to hurl at a giant to defeat an enemy make sense? Does cutting an army of 32,000 down to 300 to fight an army of 135,000 make sense? Does using 12 poorly educated men to carry a message of redemption to the entire world and write what we know as the New Testament make sense? You get the idea. If man could come up with the plan, it is only going to bring man honor. If God comes up with the plan, it says man cannot but God can.

The Father wants me to stop worrying about this reproach and reviling and trust in Him to bring everything to His planned conclusion. Will it be what I want? Only He knows.

To those who don’t understand what or why I am doing what I am doing–NEITHER. DO. I! I do this because I believe with ALL my heart it is what He has asked me to do.

Easy? Heck NO!

My choice? Absolutely not!

Painful? You better believe it!

Do I wish He had chosen another way? YES! YES! YES!

What if I am wrong? I will have a bunch of apologizing to do! But I will stand before Him without shame or guilt.

Jesus asked His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Is there another way?” (Matthew 26:39)

There obviously was not or the cross would not exist!

He faced the fear for the JOY set before Him. (Hebrews 12:2)

So do I. I believe “though weeping will endure for a night, joy will come in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). This is the reason that in this season of uncertainty, libel and slander I can stand unafraid of what men say.

The old adage “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me,” we all know is a LIE. Nothing hurts more, leaves deeper scars, and at times never fully heals. When we love someone, we care what they think about us and say about us. Social media is leaving many a victim in its impersonal style of connectedness. Many lie in psychological and literal graves leaving broken-hearted families wondering what went so very wrong. Our words are bullets. Our tongues are swords thrust through souls. Verbal tirades are stones hurled that can never be recovered.

May we put filters on our hearts (Luke 6:45 and Proverbs 4:23) and keep our tongues safety mechanism in the locked position. (James 1:19)

Father,

For all the words I have hurled, carelessly tossed, and intentionally said with the “holier than thou” intention of bringing “light into the darkness” I beg your forgiveness. To those who have given me my just due (what goes around comes around) I ask You to help me forgive and as You do, FORGET. May I give as much grace as I have been given. Thank you for the blood shed for this sin. Your word says that our words prove what is in our hearts. (Luke 6:45, Matthew 15:18) Oh, Father, this should be enough to bring us to our knees in repentance. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, my Lord, and my Redeemer. Lord, help me Speak Life into those I come in contact with today.

Yvonne