Both of my kids have been fighting summer colds over the past week. Coughing, snorting, sneezing, sore throats, low grade fevers...it's been pretty miserable around our house. Yesterday my daughter's body finally succumbed to the strain and her voice decided to make a quick departure. Sometime yesterday morning her voice packed up and left. She was silenced...straining to make even the slightest peep. No singing for her for the next few days! We're just grateful for the upcoming long holiday weekend which will hopefully give her time to recover.
Emilee's sudden bout of silence got me to thinking about what makes us lose our voice. Sure, her vocal chords have been strained these past few weeks since school started. She's singing more than she's ever sang before, she's tired, and I'm sure her immune system is low. All of this combined with the nasty cold that showed up at our house this week apparently created the perfect combination for a bout of laryngitis. Her voice has checked out. Her physical voice at least. But what about our spiritual voices? What keeps us silent? What causes us to develop spiritual laryngitis?
Is it fear of what others will think? Perhaps. Do we want to 'fit in?' Probably. Do we worry about how taking a stand for what we believe will make us look? Most likely. We all want to be accepted by those around us. But we should be more concerned with being accepted by God. We need to be cautious of what we don't say as much as what we do say. And in the same manner, we should be aware of not only what we say, but also how we say it.
A good friend recently cited a quote that I think is quite fitting here. She teaches first grade and its a motto she strives to live up to in her classroom. "Children may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." I think this is true of all people, not just children. We may not remember the specific words that broke our heart, but we remember the broken heart. And on the flip side, we may not remember verbatim what was said that made us feel so very loved and important in someone's life, but we remember the feeling. Alot of time the manner in which we speak is so much more important than the words coming out of our mouth.
Proverbs 18:21 says that the tongue has the power of life and death. It can heal or destroy. Used in the wrong way it can cause great harm and destruction. It is definitely a powerful thing. But we shouldn't be afraid of using it, as long as we're doing so in the right way. Proverbs 12:18 states that the tongue of the wise brings healing. That's the kind of tongue waving we need to be doing. We need to tame it - bite it if you have to - in order to keep it from doing harm. But we should never be so concerned with what others' think that we become silent and miss an opportunity to share God's love.
Watch what you say. Watch how you say it. Shut up when you need to. But don't be afraid to shout at the appropriate time, either. Just don't develop a case of spiritual laryngitis.
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer" ~ Psalm 19:14
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