Home Tools for your Journey Aug 21

Friday, August 21

The words of the mouth are deep waters.
—Proverbs 18:4a

When children are learning to swim, they like to stay in the shallow end of the swimming pool, where their feet can touch the bottom.  They are oftentimes afraid of the deep end, where they are unable to feel the concrete below them, and they can't be certain they won’t just sink down and never come up.

Yet with the proper training, children can learn to swim in the deep end. Their feet will never touch the bottom of a 10-foot pool,  but once they learn to swim well enough that they can do so without assistance, the fear they felt is transformed into confidence.

When we train our mind to take control of our thoughts, when we train our heart to be attentive to our emotions, when we train our soul to abide in grace, we find that the words we speak are birthed in deep waters. Without training we find ourselves twirling around in the baby pool wondering why our relationships seem superficial, and our faith seems weak.

Those words that come out of the unseen depth, where our feet cannot feel the concrete below, are born of the faith and confidence that grow from an abiding and complete trust in God. The best training ground for this faith is the deep silence of our soul, where our interior listening skills can be honed. When we confidently launch into that deep silent place, we find there the whisper and wisdom of God.

Gracious God, let my desire for you give me the motivation to train my soul to hear the whisper of your voice.