Duck and Cover

It seems to come in waves.

Things will be rolling along just fine, thank you very much. The sun will be shining, skies are blue, God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world.

Then it hits.

First one, then another, like little drops of rain. Pretty soon they're falling faster and faster until it's like a veritable thunderstorm. The first ones aren't so bad, but as they continue they seem to get worse and worse. They slip out without me even knowing it. They land and do damage before I realize what's happened. They're like tiny little bombshells going off every time they hit. And with each and every explosion, more destruction takes place.

What are they? My words.

I'm convinced this is one of the ways God keeps me in line. No one can say some of the things I hear myself saying sometimes and not realize they're going to have to ask for forgiveness. It just isn't possible. So the question remains: why do I say what I say?

All I know is that it comes in increments of time. Things will be great for long periods of time, then for a week or so I'll find someone else is taking over my mouth. The filter in my brain is bypassed, and words I don't even think come spewing out, unfettered by the restraints of good manners, sense and lovingkindness. It is truly a wonder people don't haul off and knock me into next Tuesday after hearing me caution them not to eat that piece of pie, or plant their boot in my backside after I try to spout off some holier-than-thou spiel.

I find myself apologizing more during a week of this than I ever used to do in an entire year. Can it be that God is trying to teach me more than one thing here? Not only how to keep my mouth shut and learn to humble myself, but maybe there's something else. Something that has to do with the way I judge other people. People who have this problem on a daily basis. People I've disliked because of the way they've treated others.

Wow, God's a multitasker!

Thank You, Lord for showing me what I needed to see about myself. Forgive my mouth, Father. Forgive the absence of my heart in dealing with others. Help me to see them as You do, no matter what my ears may hear. Keep me ever mindful that I could very well be the same person I judge today.

Psalm 139:4

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. (NLT)

Luke 6:37
"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. (NLT)