Wednesday’s Word

Let us Bow our Head and…Gossip?

“Proverbs 20:10: He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore, do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United. I’m so glad you could join me for a little break away from it all. Grab your strand of faith because I feel certain that you will tie a couple of knots from this week’s Wednesday’s Word!

Have you ever been written off, as if you didn’t ever exist in someone’s life and you’re left to wonder why? What could I have done so horribly wrong that they want nothing to do with me? Oh, but it stings worse than the sting of a bee, doesn’t it?

In one of my studies I’ve been working through I read something that not only revealed an explanation, at least for my most recent experience with this type of circumstance, but some good ole’ God-loving conviction, too!

To give credit to the author, Joyce Meyer, I was working in my Battlefield of the Mind devotion and workbook, Chapter 13 to be exact – I’ve been in this chapter a long time and now I know why – titled A Judgmental, Critical and Suspicious Mind. I’ve learned more in this chapter – I have to share this big nugget: the more we think about something or someone, the more likely we form opinions…usually negative! – Okay, I’ll try and stay on track here, but suffice it to say that digesting that nugget helped me to chew on what I’m about to share.

Oftentimes we can put too much trust in others and when they let us down, we fall down…hard. Let me ask you something, kind of personal but let’s keep it real: do you find yourself sliding down that slippery slope of gossip right after your friend who began the slipping…of the tongue? It’s easy to get caught up in it, isn’t it? And then if we are” Christians,” we may close the subject with something like, we’ll just have to pray for her/him, or about the situation.

My own personal favorite – and it still is because it actually is a great way to derail the gossip, goes like this: we need to pray to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Well, what I read in this chapter has rendered me convicted and convinced. See, there is a HUGE difference between discernment and suspicion. If we have suspicions about someone, we just can’t help but tell them to whoever we deem needs to know, and it is rarely, if ever, about anything positive! Discernment, on the other hand, will cause us to pray to our Truth Revealer, the only One who knows ALL things.

See, one who is truly discerning is able to recognize both good and bad, and then pray about it, while the suspicious mind focuses only on the negative and has to go shout it on the mountain…to someone! 

In an effort to stay in my own car, and my own lane, I began to practice this, to dissect when I was being suspicious and when I was being discerning. I am embarrassed to tell you how many times I caught myself right before I shared what I thought to be a discerning thought only to be forced to sit in my suspicions for a few seconds and then bow my head in prayer!

It is through practicing this very principle, relishing its truth that God has revealed to me and helped me to discern that my most recent experience of being written off and out of the life of someone I care about is because of one who allows her suspicious mind to rule her. My discerning heart now prays for her…

Oh to trust You, Lord, completely and others discreetly!
 

Evinda