A Time To #25

Speak

We last looked at the benefits of keeping silent.  Today, we look at what happens when we get the opportunity to speak.  When is it appropriate to open up our mouths and what benefits do we and others get from our utterances? 

Speech That Delivers

We can look to Esther's story to see when speaking becomes appropriate.  Interestingly, her story starts with a command from Mordecai to hide her ethnicity (Esther 2:10).  This goes along with our lesson last time because Jews were considered an inferior race even in that time and there were many who disliked them.  It is sometimes necessary to hold your tongue for the sake of Christ rather than to expound and damage your witness.  

However, when the time came, Esther spoke up and saved here people from destruction (Esther 7).  She positioned herself to be in a place of favor before this through fasting and prayer by herself and the people of Israel.  Had Esther and Israel not fasted and prayed before hand, Esther would not have had the spiritual boldness to say what she needed to say.  She may have said the right thing at the wrong time.  However, she was wise enough to put her fate and the fate of her nation in the hands of God. As a result, she was emboldened to speak out what needed to be said in the time it needed to be said. 

We can be in the same position as Esther.  We can speak out on behalf of those around us and ourselves.  We can defend the Kingdom of God and our faith in Christ.  It just has to be at the right time and it must come out of a spiritual direction.  We can do this by humbling ourselves in prayer and fasting before God.  By admitting to God that we can't save ourselves, we welcome God to come in and do the saving.  He will position us to be at the right place at the right time.  Once we are there, we just need to open our mouths and speak out what God has for us to give.  The result will be God's will for us.  Whatever that is, it is far better than anything we would accomplish on our own.

When have you faced a difficult situation and you came out of it by trusting in God?  What did you do to give over power to The Almighty?  What did he provide for you to speak out and to whom or what did you speak?  Share these answers and your other thoughts in the comments below.