Speakers

Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

I am at a stage in my life, Lord willing, that I am having trouble getting my words out, or many times saying the wrong words than what I meant to say. My thoughts don’t seem to be connected to my lips, or it becomes a jumbled blended mess of what I may have intended to say. It wells deep anxieties within me from my families DNA, and even drug abuse for many years before Christ. Stress levels increase these struggles, and I am under great strains right now. Satan takes these anxieties and creates wars within my mind that leads down the highs and lows of those of us that battle the roller-coaster of anxiety and depression. It is my battle, my spiritual war, the greatest weapon my enemy has against me, but my God allows it, sustains me through it, and I draw closer to Him as a result of it. The unseen battle that many of us face, the smiles we hide behind, the reasons behind only what people see, are most times the battles within; (There is more to see, that what you see.) This battle of speech God really spoke to my heart the last 36 hours after a sermon and prayer request at a track-side church Sunday. I had shared how I wish the ministry would grow, and how those on the outside hearing God’s Word proclaimed, would be drawn in. Our pastor shared how he struggled with memory, and how wanted to be able to remember more scripture. His message had a central plea for us to spend more time seeking God so we might discern truth in today’s society.

That got me thinking, God brought this passage above to memory, and the understanding of just a glimpse of how he is working in what we don’t see. A pastor can stand before you, simply clearly read scripture, and somewhere within earshot of his voice, God is stirring a soul within. God’s Word concisely proclaimed will never return void, never be of no use, never wasted to hear itself spoken, never minced with self-proclamation for self-edification, never used for any false ideal, never glorify anything but Christ alone, and never not for anything but God’s purposes in eternity. Where the error comes, is in the more we interpret our opinions mixed with scripture. Matthew Henry said, “So shall my word be, as powerful in the mouth of prophets as it is in the hand of providence; it shall not return unto me void, as unable to effect what it was sent for, or meeting with an insuperable opposition; no, it shall accomplish that which I please.” The prophet Isaiah had just proclaimed a few passages prior of how great God is, and how he is working above all we can fathom. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater.

So if our sovereign God and his Holy Word, are always at work and of use, how greatly can it benefit us and his purposes to spend time studying scripture, can it not? God through his Holy Spirit can bring to remembrance the perfect passage, at the perfect time, when you know not where it came from. God takes the study, the hearts plea for knowledge and understanding, and stores it deep within. He may raise a great prophet, a preacher, or simply you and I to encourage someone before us, or even ourselves when he reminds us of his promises at our times of need. Jesus Christ even reminded his disciples, when they were going to be persecuted, and likely even stand trial for their witness, not to worry about what to say. Luke 12:11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” The immeasurable gift of God lives within you as a believer; his Holy Spirit is the one who teaches you all truths, who brings those truths to memory, who pains us when we sin, who encourages us when we are down, who tugs us back to Christ when we stray, who is our Comforter as Jesus proclaimed, God lives in you as a seal of eternal security to bring faith and knowledge to those who believe.

If you are like me, and at this time, at any time in your life struggling with memory and articulation, there is one place that will help you – God’s Word. If you will plant God’s Word each day in your heart, the outpouring of it will encourage those God places around you. God will begin to use you through all your highs and lows to bring others into his kingdom. God will give you just the right words at just the right time, and you will know they are his. You may be blessed by witnessing someone before you, seeing their face change as God spoke to them through you. It also may be in Heaven, when they tell you about the speakers at a little trackside church, where God changed their heart for eternity. Amen.