Words and Sludge

I was in a service Sunday, at my regular church. We are pretty free at our church, where if a person receives a 'word' from the Lord, they are free, at the proper time to give it. And it happens every Sunday there. It is such a blessing, as when the pastor finally gets up to preach, he just laughs because the words given beforehand are just what God had given him to preach on. So fun!

And a few days ago, I was talking with someone about giving words of what we feel we hear from God for others. And we had a warning about giving and receiving words from people. We need to operate in God's Wisdom.

And then I get this goofy picture of someone spoonfeeding someone else. A bite at a time.

If it is a true Word from the Lord, as it is tasted, it is sweet. "I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Song of Solomon 2:3b.

And "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." Ps 34:8.

But what if that word is not from the Lord? What if it is of the flesh? Well intended, but flesh.

I may have written about this before, but it applies here also. I have a mom-in-law that is precious. I love her. She is born-again. But because of things that happened to her in her childhood, she sometimes says very hurtful things, and they seem to be aimed at me or my daughter.

It got so bad that when we would be planning to go see her, I would go through turmoil, because it had started to cause me to dread going to see her. Yeah, I know. Dread is of fear. Okay, I was afraid to see her, for fear of what she would say to me.

It came to a head one day when I was crying out to God. I knew in my heart of hearts, that I could be victorious over this situation, short of putting silver duct tape over her mouth!

God gave me a vision, of me sitting at a table, across from her. She was dipping a huge spoon into a bowl of really nasty stuff. Sludge. And feeding it to me. I was actually watching her do this and willingly opening my mouth to take the bite. I was taking it in.

God told me that I don't have to take it in. I am not required to open my mouth, or even sit at the table with her, clamping my lips closed, getting it all over my mouth.

I don't have to take it in.

But what if it is a good word? A word sent by the Lord to encourage me, to lift me up?

So the picture? Me sitting at a table, across from Jesus. It may be just a picnic table. Wooden, rough. He is dressed in His best warrior's uniform. Beautiful. He looks into my eyes, and picks up the spoon. It's a vintage spoon, old but solid. He dips it into the bowl in front of Him and gives me a bite.

Sweet and good. Goes down like Mom's best pumpkin pie. (Thanksgiving is coming!) Mmmm.....And it does the work that He sent it to do. Even if the word is convicting and correcting. It still goes down well.

Good for me and nourishing my soul.

So my lesson? Do my best to hear from the Holy Spirit. Do my best to develop that intimacy, so that I really hear His voice. Let Him teach me to hear Him.

And don't take bites from strangers!

©BL2007