Wednesday’s Word

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Minimize instead of Maximize

Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out;

And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

Thanks for joining me today for Wednesday’s Word and our Coffee Hour! Grab your Coffee, journal and your Strand of Faith and join me for what I pray will be a knot-worthy sharing for you in your faith journey!

Have you ever said you’ve forgiven someone for an offense only to find that the next time that anything that even remotely reminds you of it, resentment, re-ignites the flame of un-forgiveness? Of course, it was all in the name of “just sharing,” right?! 

Let’s take people out of the equation and instead put challenging circumstances: when something comes up that reminds you of your current challenging circumstance and frustration takes the reins of your thoughts and runs like a champion thoroughbred, do you ever realize that before you know it, everyone knows about it? And suddenly that little hill of a trial becomes a mountain!

If there’s one lesson I seem to be forgetting more than I’m getting, especially lately, is that the more I talk about a problem the bigger it gets! Have you ever noticed that? In my quiet time just the other day, waves of conviction overcame me as He and I replayed the tape from the previous day’s conversations and then as if to drown me, while holding me, of course, the tape kept re-winding, stopping on other similar segments which revealed the need for some scriptural sanitization of my mind! Oh, and to make sure I got what He was throwing, the message that following Sunday was tailor preached for guess who? Yours truly!

As I read this verse within a particular study that I am working through, this verse popped out and literally grabbed my heart and sent it racing, bringing this truth to life! What a beautiful way of saying let go, let God, of gently but quite firmly reminding me that I don’t need to keep adding wood to my tough circumstances by talking about them – in the name of venting – and I definitely don’t need to participate in a disagreement by continuing to disagree! Oh, the beauty of scriptural sanitization and the power of His Words to us underlined with the gift of grace, all to bring me closer to Him, not push me away.

Let’s have some fun with the NIV version of this verse:

Without wood a fire goes out – think about it; can a fire burn without wood? Of course not! This part of this instruction is telling me to minimize what I tend to maximize, and it can be applied to relationships and circumstances!

Let’s look at the second part of the verse: without a gossip a quarrel dies down. Ah, can a person fight all by themselves? What a funny picture, right, to leave a person standing there arguing by themselves because we refuse to participate. :-) :-)  But this verse is also telling me that many disagreements happen because of un-truths, aka, gossip! If you can’t say it to the person, you shouldn’t say it about the person! OUCH!

Maybe it’s time to minimize what I maximize, and let Him make it go away!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve tied me a few knots to remind me of these truths in the journey! I pray you’ve been able to do the same!

Much love,

Evinda