Choices

FAITH or DOUBT?
BLESSINGS or CURSES?
JUSTIFYING or STANDING?

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."  Matthew 12:34
Have you listened to yourself lately? No, I mean have you really listened? Are your words filled with faith and hope or are they filled with doubt and despair?
We should always be listening to ourselves. The confessions of our mouth most definitely determine our attitude towards them.  Frequently, (yes, I am sure you find this hard do believe) one of our five children has a bad attitude about something they have to do and the discussion of their WORDS will come up. 

Just the other day our oldest was asked if she wanted to clean the bathroom or the kitchen, afterwards she was all smiles.  She came to me and said, "Thank you for giving me a choice about what to clean; I did a much better job knowing that I had a choice."   Hmmm, this just did NOT set well with me.  We are definitely blessed with free will/choice, but should our GETTING a choice determine how well we do something?  What if it feels we are not being given a choice?  I (Serena) did not feel I was given much of a choice in the collapse of our marriage, so I could have sat back and just had a bad attitude.  This is exactly what our daughter had been doing--her lack of choice was determining her quality of work.  If God has called us to do something be grateful that we have a choice, but our attitude should be good no matter what.  We are called to do our best.  Raising our children has certainly given me more insight into my own attitudes, many times the choices I am given do NOT seem all that great.  Clean the bathroom or the kitchen....umm, neither, thanks?!?!?  How often do we say that?   In marriage you are given a choice, till death do us part or a hard heart?  We say, "Neither, thanks!"  AND then spend time proving how our hearts are just fine; do we really know the condition of our hearts? 

Our bodies/hearts can often internalize things that we have no idea of until too late, so we should do our best to make sure we aren't doing things that we have been told will have a certain outcome.  I (Serena) have what some would describe as an insanely high pain tolerance, but I can tell you this.....my BODY will and HAS quietly informed me of the dangers that the pain is causing.  When my gallbladder was acting up, and my liver and pancreas were shutting down....my blood pressure was through the roof.  I "should" have had seizures and headaches and numerous other symptoms. We are NOT all "textbook" and God's grace will still rest on our lives, but to say that our choices are not affecting us......do we REALLY want to take that risk?  Our hearts may very well be severely suffering, but because we have no symptoms.....we assume the best.  Like high blood pressure is called a "silent killer," so I believe is a hard heart. 

It's never too late....to set things right.

The Israelites were delivered from the hands of the Egyptians, yet they grumbled...

"Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promises. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord." Psalm 106:24-25
Because they did not believe God's promises, all of the generation of Israelites that grumbled in the desert died before reaching the Promise Land. Are you grumbling in the desert of divorce? Are you disbelieving the promises of God for the healing of your marriage? If so, stop right now and ask the Lord to forgive you of grumbling, faultfinding and complaining. Ask Him to replace your stony heart with a heart of flesh. Ask Him to protect your lips so that you sow seeds of grace, not seeds of destruction.

As the mouth speaks, so it will be. If I can leave you with one thought today, may it be...

"Let your conversation be always full of grace." Colossians 4:6

Let this be your prayer today...

"May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart, be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14

What you speak is so critical in the healing of your marriage. You can speak words of blessing or you can speak words of condemnation. You can talk about your circumstances or you can talk about God's promises in His Word. The choice is yours. May your words "be always full of grace."