Don't Waste Your Breath!

Paulette has talked a lot about Joshua lately, and though I've read the book before, I decided to read it afresh, with new eyes, an open heart, and a listening ear. Let me tell ya, God is faithful and it fell FRESH.

So I was reading Joshua 1 and I noticed in vs. 9 that God told Joshua, "Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged..". Now we know that God would never waste his breath, right? He'd never say something that doesn't need to be said. So the obvious implication is that Joshua was terrified and discouarged! Moses was dead. Joshua was now the leader of the Israelites. He was in charge of getting them into their promised land!!! That would be enough to make me scared out of my mind, too! So what happened after God COMMANDED Joshua NOT to be afraid and worried?

Verse 10 - "So Joshua ordered the officers of the people..."

Yep - he BELIEVED what God said and TOOK ACTION accordingly.

But that is not exactly where I'm going with this. That seems to be the more obvious point, right? When God speaks, take action! Believe Him! What struck me the most is that if God doesn't waste words, then I shouldn't either!!! OUCH.

How often do I waste my words ~ saying something that someone else does NOT need to hear? Something that I WANT them to hear, but is it life-giving and encouraging and full of truth? And on the flip side, how often do I miss opportunities, or even worse, how often do I fail (BY CHOICE) to tell others what they DO need to hear? If my husband has had a rough day, am I too consumed with myself to encourage him because, "Hey! I've had a rough day, too!" The examples are endless, aren't they?

The point is: God ALWAYS tells us what we need to hear.. and He NEVER tells us what we don't need to hear. I plan to make this a personal goal in my relationships... while fully submitting to the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to bring it about! Wanna join me?