Is There Are Guard At The Gate?
Psalm 141:3-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)
3Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.4Incline my heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing or to be occupied in deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties. 5Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness. Oil so choice let not my head refuse or discourage; for even in their evils or calamities shall my prayer continue.
If there is one thing I have learned in my journey with the Lord not “EVERYTHING” we feel at every given moment needs to be said or at least not in the way it is playing out in our minds! The other day my husband went into work and found that they had messed up his payroll…As most of us he was tight (upset), but instead of doing what was common and blasting the offender, he walked away and took a very long walk with the Lord and talked it out with Him. You see he is very organized and business minded, a perfectionist at times, but he is learning not everything that he is feeling needs to be said, because the results, can affect the individual in which they are being spoken to even if you are not meaning to. He is also realizing that in this season in His life and walk with the Lord, people are watching him very closely because they are seeing God’s hand manifested in His life in some very unique ways.
I read something the other day that baffled my mind, a person was complaining about the profanity being used by our youth, and in their complaint or charge against neglectful parents they used profanity. If we want God to be seen, or the message of love, correction, instruction, encouragement or anything else for that matter to be heard, my question is how are we presenting it? I often find that we think that a guard means not saying anything at all. Sometimes that is the truth, but many times places a guard simply means, taking in a breath saying a silent prayer and asking God to guide our words and our conversation. We wonder why people are looking at us asking the question are they really a Christian or are they really serious about what they are saying, because our conversation and its presentation is no different than anyone else’s and in some cases worse. The Bible encourages us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). For many of us that is a challenge because we are not even sure what love is or we have defined love differently than what God has said it is (refer to I Corinthians 13). When we are purposed in letting our light shine before man that God may be Glorified (Matthew 5:16), we are not always so quick to spew whatever is swirling around in our minds or in the back of our throats for that manner.
Don’t get me wrong allowing the Holy Spirit to guard our mouth, keep watch over our lips and tame our tongue is not for the faint of heart or the weak of mind. It takes strength and discipline. For many of us we want God to step outside while we have our say, and then come back in and join us after we have cussed up a blue streak, or told someone off or given someone else a piece of our mind. But God wants our words and our conversation to be pleasing in His sight, that men and women, boys and girls recognize not us but the God at work in and through us. Don’t kill yourself if you fall back or slip up in the process, but seek God’s assistance to change that way we communicate and the very way we speak to people, and how we speak to them. My mother used to tell us, many times it is not what you say but how you say it. Other times it is what we are saying. As I used to tell my teens in teen ministry, God sees all and He hears all too!
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