Still Hearing Voices

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."  Proverbs 16:24 (ESV)

I'm still hearing Aibileen's words in my head.  Words she spoke to Mae Mobley over and over again.

"You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important."

Kathryn Stockett's The Help made a lasting impression on me.  Much of it is a sadness as thick as the humidity in Atlanta in July.

As I hear Aibileen's words to "Baby Girl" echoing in my head, I just wonder whose voices are  filling your thoughts today. Are they voices of love and encouragement, like Aibileen's, or voices of rejection, contempt, or condemnation like Miss Hilly's or Miss Leefolt's.

I pray that you are blessed with family and friends that breathe words of life and love and encouragement into you.  And I also pray that the primary voice you hear is that of our Heavenly Father, the One who loves us unfailingly.

Listen to His words.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love...."  Jeremiah 31:3

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."  John 15:9

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends....I have called you friends....You did not choose me, but I chose you...."  John 15:13-16

He proclaims that His love is everlasting.  God's love for us equals that of His love for Jesus.  We are joint heirs with Him.  Jesus calls us "friend."  And He loved us so much that He laid down His life for us.

 No greater love.

And if we continue to search His Word, we find that in Him there is no condemnation.  We see that He experienced and understands rejection and contempt.  And that when we suffer, He is our ever present help.  He is our strength, our comforter, our defender, our strong tower, our shield, and our deliver.

Let's hear God's voice over all others.  Let's seek that voice in His Word.

And may we all be mindful of the words we speak, uttering "gracious words like a honeycomb" breathing "sweetness to the soul" and "health to the body" of those around us.

Lord, You are The Help we need.  Fill our thoughts with Your voice.  Fill our mouths with words as sweet as honey.  Protect our hearts, our souls, our minds.  Assure us with Your love today, and help us to likewise share love and encouragement with others.  We love You.

Overflow

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."  Matthew 12:34b (NIV)

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. 

My feelings about the book are mixed. 

The thing that strikes me is that in my mind, over the last couple of weeks, I hear my thoughts in Skeeter's or Aibileen's or Miss Hilly's voice.  They have been my daily companions. 

Don't you find that when you are hanging out with people you start to talk like them or at least think in their voice?

Some favorite "voices" in my head are those of my Scarlett O'Hara-ish friend, Emilie...or my German friend, Birgit...or my new British writer buddy, Sue.  And you've gotta love it when you are doing a Bible study and hear some Beth Moore Texas drawl in your mind.    

As Aibileen, Miss Skeeter, or Miss Hilly hijack my thoughts, I can't help but think, "Do I really want their voices there?"  Maybe, maybe not.

That's where the "overflow" comes in.

The verse that follows "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" says, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."  (I couldn't help but hear Aibileen speaking the latter words.)

I'm just wondering what we're "storing up."

There's a lot of fiction stored up in me.  Mostly I choose Christian Chick Lit...which makes for overflow that I don't have to be ashamed of. Sometimes I read mainstream literature...some great...some I need to mark off my list.  Girls, we've got to be careful what we're reading.  It affects our overflow.

I love some reality TV...Survivor, The Sing Off, American Idol.  Hearing Scotty McCreery in my head is good.  Steven Tyler...not so much.

What I really want flowing out is the best...the goodness that comes from the ultimate Voice and His Holy Word.

I'm challenged to invest my time in storing up His truths through time in His Word, listening to music that echoes those truths, and getting quiet enough to listen for His Voice.

Jeremiah 15:16 says, "When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight...."  I want to hunger and thirst for Him.  I want to fill up on Jesus, so that the overflow can't help but be good!

Lord, the voices around us scream for our attention.  Help us to follow the ones that lead us to You.  Fill us up with Your Truths, so that the overflow of our hearts honors and glorifies You.