You allowing the planting?

My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. Anger does not help you live the way God wants. So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do. Be humble and accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you. (James 1:19-21)

How good are you at listening? I don't mean just letting someone speak on and on, but truly listening to what is being said. We can all tune out someone who is droning on about some subject. It takes some effort to reconnect and pay attention, doesn't it? Listen more than you speak - those are words to live by - if we'd just listen to them!

Why is it we have relationship issues? It usually began with something said that was misinterpreted, or a failing to say anything at all when the moment came and went. Truth be told, the 'relationship issues' we have with our heavenly Father are no different. We come and talk, talk, talk with him in 'prayer' and then we walk away wondering why things aren't change in our lives. The moment we stopped 'talking', we were done, so we thought prayer was done.

Talking with God isn't much different than talking with each other. We talk, then we are to listen, and sometimes we actual hear what WE are saying even before HE begins to say a thing. When we actually begin to hear what we are saying, it might just make us take a beat and listen a bit longer. We might just discover that our prayers are a bit 'shallow', 'hollow', or 'trivial' in nature. We only scratch the surface of what needs to be said and wonder why we 'never get anywhere' when we pray.

Always be more willing to listen than to speak. This principle is good in any relationship, but if we apply it to our relationship with Jesus first, imagine what might happen with our earthly relationships that have been struggling a bit. As we begin to listen more to God than make complaints, the more his teachings will begin to be planted in our hearts. Planted teachings are the ones that have the opportunity to grow. Just sayin!

Batter up!

When baseball was just starting out as a national pastime, the pitching was a whole lot different than it is today.  You'd hear the announcer say over the crackly loud speaker system, "Here comes the wind-up..." In a few quick moves, the pitcher would go through various "contortions" until there was a sudden release of the ball, sending it sailing toward home plate. It was the "wind-up" that gave the ball its speed. Without the wind-up, the ball was not likely to cross the plate, but if it did - the batter was more likely to hit it dead on, sending it as far as his swing would allow. The beginning of a quarrel in terms of this 'game of life' we play every day is something like the "wind-up" of the "pitch" that will send the entire conversation into a direction it may never have intended to go! Learning to control the "pitch" often determines if the 'argument' ball will ever reach home plate!

The start of a quarrel is like a leak in a dam, so stop it before it bursts. (Proverbs 17:14 The Message)

The leaky dam is probably not much of a threat or very intimidating until it begins to expand! Just as the ball in the hand of the pitcher is no threat until it is released toward the plate, the thoughts we think in the moment are not much of a threat until they are spoken when they probably shouldn't have been spoken at all! A small leak in a huge dam can keep a structural engineer up at nights! I wonder if perhaps a small word spoken in haste keeps any of us up at nights? Maybe they do more than we actually are aware they do! If you have read my blog for any length of time, you have probably heard me say, "Think everything you say, but don't say everything you think!" Not sure where I first heard this, but it has stuck with me for years and years. I have repeated it many times and many have their own "ah-haw" moment with this tiny seed thought about the power of words. Not everything we think is worth speaking. Some words are just not wise to speak simply because the relationship is not strong enough, the words are unkind, or the words are not meant to be spoke in this moment of time (or perhaps not at all).  

We often "wind-up" long before we launch the words which will "cross the plate". The words that quickly lead up to the "explosive" pitch are often more important than any others we speak - especially when the "pitched words" come across rather harsh or in a strong manner. In leading up to the "pitch", we often say a whole lot of other stuff that seems insignificant at the moment, but when the "pitch" is released, they ALL hit home in one way or another! The other important thing to realize is the purpose of the "wind-up". It is designed to INCREASE the velocity of the ball's delivery at home plate! If our words leading up to the "final pitch" do the same thing, no wonder the "pitch" carries such a punch when those words are heard by the others in our lives! The "build-up" to the actual words that end up culminating in a quarrel are merely those that give "velocity" to the quarrel.  

A wise pitcher learns to control the ball. A wild ball may indeed cost him the entirely otherwise well-played game. Learning to control our words is much like the control of the ball in the pitcher's hand. When we learn to understand the difference between being "set" on the mound and being in the full "wind up" mode, we learn a lot about control. The "set" is when the pitcher has an eye on all the other players in the game - he is acutely aware of what is happening on the field around him - aware of the tiniest of movement. The "wind up" is when the pitcher is set into action to deliver the ball across home plate! Each has a purpose - one has more risk than the other. Watching other players, seeing their moves, being aware of their desire to "advance" a base, are skills wisely learned by the one who takes the mound. Learning to use the pitch wisely is equally as important. A poorly executed pitch is never going to go well for the pitcher! We need to learn to be wise with the use of our words. The words we choose not to speak are just as important as those we do! As we learn what gives "velocity" to our word delivery, we also can learn what brings "control" - remembering that not every word is worthy of making it across home plate! Just sayin!