The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. (1 Samuel 3:19)
I’m doing my best to spend as much time as I can focusing on God recently. When I feel out of sorts, I turn to Him before anything else. I also spend more time talking to God – whether that’s when I’m on my daily hikes or washing dishes. I also recently decided to take a break from Facebook – going so far as to delete the app from my phone. I knew that social media wasn’t helping me put God first. I was constantly checking to see what people were posting and how they were reacting to my posts. I won’t even get into the political/social mess happening and how it’s reflected on social media.
Before bed I ask God to give me a good night’s sleep and to bless my dreams. (I’m don’t sleep very well and regularly have very disturbing dreams.)
Last night’s dream wasn’t a great one but I knew God was speaking to me. I was out with friends and a carnival was going on – I was in charge of making sure traffic was diverted correctly. But one pickup truck with a couple inside (man and woman) ignored the signs and came right into the carnival. I started yelling at the person to move – I wasn’t very nice about it at all.
Then the couple got out of the car – it was two people I care about a lot. The husband looked very upset and the woman came to me and said “you really hurt us just now. We didn’t do it on purpose – we didn’t see the signs. Perhaps you need to think about how you reacted to this and how you spoke to us. It wasn’t very loving.”
I woke up at that point. I thought about what had happened in my dream and thanked God for the reminder that I need to be better at how I react to people and situations. It’s so easy for me to assume the worst. It’s so easy for me to yell and get upset about honest mistakes.
God was telling me in that dream to remember Him at all times and in all situations. I can react poorly when I’m under stress and instead I need to do my best to be kind to all.
I don’t think it will be easy – but that’s the task God has put before me.
Then I thought about chapter 3 of 1 Samuel. “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.”
How often do I carelessly toss my words around as if they didn’t matter? How often do I speak without thinking? How can I honor God with my words?
Samuel was blessed by God. He was a prophet from the day he was born and would go on to do many great things.
Maybe God hasn’t marked me in the same way but I can do my best to honor God by trying to make sure my words aren’t hurtful or useless.
I really love the image of words “falling to the ground”. Because words have weight – words can hurt or help. Heal or injure a person. Lift someone up or put them down.
I know what I want to focus on with my words – praising God and lifting others up. I want to encourage, inspire and heal. How about you?
Mighty God, thank You for reminding me that my words have weight. Help me remember to be the person you want me to be in all situations and to use my words wisely to help all. Amen.