WiseHeart

"The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin."

~ Proverbs 10:17

I have to admit, when I first read this verse in my study I laughed a little. Why, you ask? Because it seemed absolutely preposterous to be able to over-talk the Lord. I mean, you would have to be talking exceedingly loud to not hear Him, right? And then I thought more about it--it's not so ridiculous a thing to happen after all.

This made me think of that passage about Elijah.

'Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heart it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"'

[1 Kings 19:11-13]

The voice of the Lord was not in the loud things of the world, it was a still, small voice. A whisper. When I thought of this, I stopped laughing. God doesn't always speak to us in the big things, sometimes He whispers in the day-to-day living.

When put into this context, it's not so hard to imagine speaking over that Whisper. It wouldn't be so hard to let the things of this world talk over the Lord because we get so caught up in deadlines and activities.

What does Elijah say to the Lord? He basically tells Him, "I've done everything You asked. And now I'm all alone and everyone is trying to kill me." (It's been a rough time for old Elijah.) So what does the Lord do? He sends him on another mission, so to speak. He tells him to go back the way he came and do a relatively long list of things. Among those things, He tells him to anoint Elisha, Elijah's successor for all intents and purposes.

Now, it's easy to say, "That was in the Old Testament, it doesn't apply to us today. God isn't going to speak to us in the same way He spoke to Elijah." We like those big moment revelations--those ones that you simply cannot ignore. And while I do think the Lord can speak to us in that way, I think there is a lot of merit in being still, and listening for the small things. We like to chatter and talk, but that is not always fruitful.

Proverbs 10 goes on to say in verse 19:

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

 Let's combine these two verses from Proverbs 10. "When words are many, sin is not absent, a chattering fool comes to ruin. The wise in heart holds his tongue and accepts commands." (I spliced those together because I think they compliment one another well, I do not think this should be done often with all verses, but I felt it served my purpose here.)

I would be lying if I told I was good at being still. The fact of the matter is that I like to be doing things, anything. I have a lot on my plate right now and there's been a lot of multitasking. I may not be verbally chattering a lot, but internally I am.

My new prayer for this week, and onward, has been, "Lord, give me a WiseHeart, and let my tongue be still. Let me not be a chattering fool." And then I listen. There is merit in silence, in the listening heart. I keep my heart open to His commands, whatever they may be.