Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Fine-Tuning The Mouth

Gracie turned 5 last week and all of a sudden, she's become "Miss Independent." She's tried her best to do everything, without help. She sees me pushing the vaccum cleaner around the house, but when she tried to do it, she gets frustrated. "Its too heavy!" she says and she pushes it on the floor. "I can't do it!" I pick it up and tell her it isn't too heavy; you just have to let the arm down and then you can push it across the floor. I encourage her again, show her how I do it, and then let her try. (After all, I'll really need her help cleaning house one day!)

There were several people in the Bible whom God wanted to use, but they had a problem with their mouth that God had to correct. One of those people was Jeremiah. God called Jeremiah "a prophet to the nations" and Jeremiah started saying things that God had not told him to say. So God had to straighten out his mouth before God could use him.

In Jeremiah 1:4-10, he said "Then the word of the Lord came to me (Jeremiah) saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.' Then said I, Ah, Lord God! I cannot speak, for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, 'Say not, I am only a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,' says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, 'Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy annd to overthrow, to build and to plant.'"

When God calls us to do something, we should not say that we cannot do it. If God says we can, then we can! Many times we verbalize out of our own insecurities or what other people have said about us. Therefore, we need to say about ourselves what God says about us.

No one is ever used without preparation. That means that God must deal with us and that we must submit to His dealings.

God is fine-tuning us. A piano will play without being tuned. But in order for it to make the beautiful melody it was made to do, it must be tuned just right. In that same way, God has been working in our lives in general ways for years, but now its time for some precise final adjustments so that we can be used by Him.

1 comment:

Susan Rhymes Harvey said...

Thank you for reminding us of these truths. I was convicted by so much that you said, as I have had a trying few weeks and haven't always "listened" for opportunities that I should have taken. Hindsight is wonderful, but not productive...
Enjoyed seeing you back on WLBT!