A Word From the Lord

If you grew up in conservative baptist churches like I did then every time you hear someone say "I have a word from the Lord" you get really concerned. If you grew up in more charismatic churches then you stay pretty calm and just wait to hear them out. However that's not what we're talking about today.

I want to to talk about those time that you know, deep in your heart, God is prompting you to say something to someone. How do you handle it?

For example, I remember this time that I was in the car with a friend of mine. I was sitting in the front seat outside her house and although I don't remember the details of our conversation now I remember that as I replied to something she said I knew that the words weren't my own and I told her so. I said something like, "I don't know why I was supposed to say that but God wanted me to."

To other people that might have seemed like a strange statement but she's used to hearing things like that from me so she accepted it and we went inside. It wasn't too long later that something happened in her life that suddenly those words that had come out of my mouth had a very real application for her.

Another time, I was at dinner with a friend and I knew there was something I needed to say to her but I didn't want to. I wanted to just let it go because I was so afraid that it would make our precious little time together awkward. And you know what? It did. For a few moments. But God is good and He didn't leave it that way. He then gave me the words to explain my position and gave her the heart to accept what I had said, to agree to pray about it, and to not be offended.

In that case I didn't tell her that I felt like this was something that God wanted me to say. Why? I don't know. It just didn't come up. I was scared that she would be upset but I couldn't let that risk stop me. My job was to be obedient in passing on this "word from the Lord". Once I completed my job and we talked it through all I could do was take a step back and let Him do the work. Now whatever happens is between her and God. I did my part so now I can walk away, pray for her, and not regret that I disobeyed God.

Trust me friends, I've lived with that regret. I've stayed quiet when I should've spoken and spoken when I should've stayed silent. The hard part is having wisdom in what to do or say. When you're having a tough discussion you don't want to just jump in with your own words that might do more harm then good. Take a moment to pray and ask God for words to speak, if He doesn't give you any then maybe it's better to take some advice from James 1 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak..."

Which leads us to my third example. I was visiting a friend and she was sharing some concerns. I wanted to speak. I didn't believe that everything she was saying what theologically correct and I wanted to say something to her but as I prayed for words none came. Instead a peace about staying quiet was what God gave me and that wasn't easy to accept but it was what was needed in the moment.

God has called us to be bold. Sometimes that's being bold in speaking the words He's given us and sometimes it's being bold in staying quiet, listening and letting God do the work.

If God is laying on your heart today something that you need to say or do for someone then take that leap. It's scary and they may not appreciate it. They could get angry, or ignore you, yell and scream or just shake their head and walk away but their reaction is between them and God. Your job is to be obedient.