2 Kings 6:26-29
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” The king replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?”Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
Isn’t this a horrible story? Can you imagine being desperate enough to eat your child? That goes against everything in the heart of a parent!
I would hope anyone reading these words would be appalled!
But after I read this story and judged this deranged mother, I began to wonder how we “eat” our children with our words.
I prayed with two elderly people this morning. I prayed with the man first. I talked with him about repenting for his sins and forgiving those who have hurt him over the years. He jokingly said, “But I have to wish them an awful lot of bad luck first.” He was teasing a little, but I could tell that he truly didn’t grasp forgiveness. After praying with this man for a good 5 minutes (felt like 20) I prayed with his wife.
It is obvious that this lady is a wounded soul. Many of her words are darts of bitterness, control, and anger. She is oblivious about the condition of her own heart. (Aren’t we all like that sometimes?) I asked her if she had forgiven her mother and she said she had. I listed a bunch of people that I thought she might need to forgive and she said she already had. God alone knows her heart.
In all of the years I have known this couple, I have rarely heard them have any encouraging words about their children or grandchildren. I have witnessed these two destroy “eat” their children with their tongues many times.
Do I think they did it intentionally? No. They love their children, but neither of them were encouraged growing up so they passed down the negativity.
Wounded people wound others.
It is only by the grace of God when we half-way get it right. It is only by allowing the Holy Spirit to shine the Light of Christ into every crevice of our hearts to show us our true condition.
Proverbs 21:2
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
I pray that we would be found faithful — not eating our children with our words.
We are writing scripts upon their hearts.
God bless you all!
It's so scary, isn't it? Goes with the whole "nail in the fence" theory. The nail gets banged in with hurtful words…..yes we can take them out, but there is still a hole (scar).
"The tongue has the power of life and death,……." Proverbs 18:21
Great post!
Thanks for this wonderful post sis, so true.
Very powerful…well said and convicting!!! Thanks for such a wonderful visual!
AMEN!!
Blessings,
andrea
And we do put power into what we say!!! Only by His grace are we able to always let only encouraging words come out. God bless you sister.
I just wanted to say thank you for doing what you do.. I pray for that strength, power, and grace to fill me, enabling me to pray with others, encouraging repentance, etc. I do it sometimes, but not as often as I should.
Bless your heart Beth.. the heart of Christ. Blessed be the Lord. Thanks for your obedience
joseph
This is a very strong message Beth, thanks for sharing it! It is so true that it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to shine truth in our lives. I am SO grateful He lives in me!
Have a blessed weekend!
Trudy
how timely..I so want to be giving my children the spirit of hope and encouragement..how often have I instead cut them with a sharp tongue.
I pray that the LORD's ways will prevail..for He does know my heart.
Amen Beth!! Another very powerful post!
Hope your weekend is good.
Hugs and blessings
Such a strong message. Your blog is beauitful. God bless 🙂