Then By All Means

Honey filled words spilled forth right there in the middle of my day through a dear friend recently.

They sounded foreign and uncomfortable and hard to receive, as beautiful as they were.

Sometimes honey words sound foreign to us when we've spent the day beating ourselves up with our own words.

Or when we've allowed someone else's words to take root and replace the truth of our own.

Brokenness can do that to us.

It can leave us unable to hear the truth because we've heard so many lies about who we really are that when the truth comes in like a flood, it feels foreign and we can't receive it.

Brokenness can leave us with limited capacity for truth because the words that have nearly destroyed us take up all the space.

And if we do not replace those heart wrecking words with truth soon, they can take root.

And they can tangle us up in a world of hurt to the point that we can begin to live and move and have our being out of the words that were spoken out of someone else's brokenness.

And if we do not have a foundation and platform of truth and love and goodness called love letters from the King, to stand on, then our hearts will either move into some form of agreement with the lies or hit full tilt mode, called, they must be right, so why am I even trying to do this?

This is when He sends in the encouragers.

The encouragers come in like a flood and tear down everything that is not from the Father with the truth of everything that is from Him.

And God was so kind to me that day in the midst of my inner turmoil.

He graciously sent the encouragers by way of two precious friends to call and ask me why on earth I wasn't writing. 

I answered that I was busy with the baby and family and such.

Crickets.

They know that I've had lots of babies and that still, I
write and they know my heart behind the writing.

I don't write for myself and I don't write for others.

I write for Him.

It is the way that I worship Him. 

But sometimes the very thing we were created to do is the very thing that people will use against us to keep us from doing the very thing that God has called us to do.

And so, eventually, I shared how a friend told me months ago, that I wasn't a writer.

And that because I admired her and she had a long list of credentials, it crushed me.

And it silenced me.

And every time I would sit down to write, I would hear those words over and over again.

Never mind the viral blog posts or beautiful words of encouragement from others.

Never mind any of that.

All I could hear were her words.

Even though I somewhat knew what she meant.

She meant perfection. 

Because you won't find a shred of that anywhere on this blog.

The God I love and adore, the One whom I write for,  doesn't require that from me. 

So I write what He leads me to and how He prompts me to write and I do my best not to worry with someone else's definitions of "writer."

I just write.

And from everything I've read in His word, He always uses the least likely people.

I am so grateful for the kindness of those friends who spoke truth and life and encouragement to me that day.

Their honey filled words helped me to start writing again and also reminded me of one of my favorite quotes.

"If you hear a voice from within you say, 'you are not a painter,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." Vincent van Gogh

I believe that this not only includes negative self talk but also refers to the voices of others who choose to use their words to tear down gifting in other people.

No matter how many voices we have in our life, His voice has to be the loudest.

And the more we do the very thing He has called us to do and the more we fill our hearts with His words, the louder His voice will be and the easier it will be to move past words that do not line up with the truth from the One who tells us...

In me, you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28

My sheep know my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

So today, if you find yourself conflicted over whether or not you can write or sing or dance or teach or paint or pastor or create or instruct or parent or cook or fill in the blank with any number of calling and talent and gifting...

I hope your heart will remember these words and by all means...

Paint

Teach

Train

Write

Speak

Mother

Father

Pastor

Lead

Sing

Dance

Cook

Bake

Create

Encourage

Arrange

Orchestrate

Because the body of Christ needs you beautiful friend.

Yet who knows if you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14