Have You Taken Your "Word" Lately?

Lately, things have been going really well for me. It’s been life as usual, but with God, my “life as usual” has seemed so much more like a life that I can live in. So you can only imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning feeling completely overwhelmed and 28 shades of gloomy.

I spent most of the day in this terrible funk that I just could not shake off. I cried, prayed, listened to music, watched an uplifting movie, but none of it seemed to be breaking the suffocatingly binding shekels.

Unwilling to give in to the clouds, I took myself to a quite place, listened to some calming music and meditated on God’s word. I really wrapped myself in the wisdom that owns my heart.

Proverbs 12:25 tells us that, “anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.” NRSV

Maybe that was just it. I was being anxious. Change is all around me. Not bad change, just change. I’m much better at embracing changes these days than I think I ever have been, but maybe my heart didn’t tell my mind and my mind didn’t communicate that to my body.

Either way, anxiety was oppressing me. The worry of how things are all going to work out, what it is God is really calling me to do, whether or not I’ll ever have another child, longing for healing from my PCOS, trying to discover who I really am, desiring answers for the future…just to name a few. I didn’t realize just how much these things were getting to me.

It was when I took a second and third look at the scripture above that God began to speak to me. My heart was heavy burdened because of the stress and anxiety I was putting on it. God informed me that though I was doing a good job being prayerful, I was in much need of the “good word”.

The scripture in Proverbs tells us that what weighs us down can be transformed into cheer with “a good word.” I think the real key, is that everything is better with “THE good word.” The best medicine for our anxiety doesn’t come in a bottle from the drug store, but from God in God’s word.

What a beautiful reminder of just how much we spiritually, mentally and physically – how we wholly – are in need of our daily doses of God.

We take special care to make sure we take our vitamins, our prescriptions, healthy foods, etc. When we don’t take care of ourselves, we feel it. I can tell when I have forgotten to take my medicine…trust me. Well, I think it’s the same with God’s word. I can tell when I’ve forgotten to take my Word for the day. Today, I needed a much bigger dose of the Word to help me feel well again. There simply is no supplement for the healing power of the Word.

Prayer:

Lord God, today I poor myself out before you. I acknowledge how powerful your healing words are. I know that it is your desire for me to be fully well, healthy and happy. Lord God, help me to remember to take my medicine, your Word, on a daily basis. May I always turn to you first in my times of explained and unexplained sorrow. May my frown always disappear in the warmth of your light. Thank you for the rainbows after the rain. Amen.

Questions to Ponder:

1. When was the last time you turned to God’s medicine in your need for healing?

2. Is time with God and studying God’s word a part of your daily routine?

3. Have you asked God for the healing your mind, body and soul desires?