It’s been about a month now since we’ve had to quarantine, and life still feels upside down. Who would’ve imagined that everyday activities in life would become such a nuisance.
For instance, going food shopping. We are now required to wear a mask on our face as we enter a store, which in itself is an interesting process for those of us who wear glasses. Not only can I not breathe good, but I can’t see well either because my glasses are constantly fogging up thanks to the mask. We are also asked to distance ourselves approximately 6′ from other people as we try to shop. Most stores have signs on the floor to direct shoppers where to stand and in which direction to proceed down the isle now. As if food shopping wasn’t already annoying enough, the next part of the process is so much more fun!
When we return home with our groceries, it was suggested that we wipe the products with a disinfectant. Also, they’ve said to immediately wash the clothes you wore to the store, or at least to not wear those same clothes around the house.
I’ve never been a huge fan of food shopping, even on an ordinary day. I never thought the experience could get any worse, but think again, it did.
If I were to have asked my grandchildren two months ago if they would like the rest of the school year off, they would have been elated. However, the reality of a month without school and the rest of the school year being cancelled has set in, and they are wishing they could go back.
For those of you who have children at home, this makes your situation anything but ideal. One of the challenges you might have is how to be creative in keeping your bored children occupied, without sitting them in front of the TV all day. At the same time, you are still adjusting to working from home or not working at all. Combine these situations with financial worries and insecurities of the future and it makes for a perfect recipe of losing your patience.
We have also been stripped of other little pleasures in life. Some of them that come to mind are getting our hair cut, shopping at a local boutique, dining at a favorite restaurant, or even just watching your favorite sport on TV. Life as we know it today, is enough to frustrate even the most patient person.
However frustrating life might be right now, it is no excuse to be short tempered with the ones we love. It’s okay to get angry, but do not let that cause you to sin. We are still called to be kind to one another and to do unto others as we would want it to be done to us.
One of the wisest men recorded in history was King Solomon. He writes for us in Proverbs 10:21:
“The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgement.”
Take a moment to think about your recent conversations. Have you felt nourished by someone’s encouraging words? How did those words lift you up? How did you respond? On the contrary, perhaps you remember when someone’s language or words wounded your spirit.
Maybe you were torpedoed by a thoughtless comment from a neighbor or struck down by a destructive argument with a family member or friend. We have all experienced the consequences of cruel words at one time or another.
Consider the effects of good and kind speech. Just as foolish talk can bring death, truth spoken with love can lift the discouraged soul, restore dignity to the oppressed, and heal the brokenhearted. God places great importance on our words and how to speak them.
In the bible James has a lot to say about taming the tongue.
James 3:5-12 says;
“Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
Your words have the power of life or death. You can wound another’s spirit or protect another’s dignity just by the words you speak. Choose your words wisely.
Father I pray You would help us to hold our tongue when we are angry or frustrated.
Help us to kindly nourish and uplift those around us.
Lord I pray we would walk by Your Spirit, being filled with the fruit of Your Spirit which is; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self -control. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen
Ecclesiastes 10:12
Words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
but a fool is consumed by his own lips.
