Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles!
I love the book of Proverbs because it is so clear sometimes it takes my breath away yet so vague it makes my brain numb! I read Proverbs 21:23 and was struck by the double meaning in this verse. I hit myself on the forehead in awe of how God teaches me about my errors. Let me tell you my story.
The Unguarded Story
I host a women’s retreat bi-monthly, I bought them some yummy chocolates knowing I have been watching my girlish figure and so has my mom, who was on her way to visit! We have had food issues for as long as I can remember! I put those yummy chocolates out at the retreat then when I got home, because my mood was such that I was weak, I put them out again. After teaching all day I was exhausted and vulnerable. Previously on my way home I had a chat with myself regarding my tongue so I would not say something in my weakness to offend BUT I should also have had a chat with myself about my mouth too. I guarded my tongue but not my mouth! Not only did I fail to protect myself but I also failed to protect my mother by putting her into the same temptation! Oh, how I long to get the drive to my house back to speak to myself again for my soul now has trouble! When my soul has trouble I have only two choices, I can harden my heart to the trouble or I can relieve it by righting the situation!
Hardened heart cold soul!
Hardening our heart means we are turning off our feeling of love for others and turning in to self! Maintaining our pure feelings for others is not easy and the Words of God never say it is! There are lists of what the result of a hard heart looks like in man. These scenarios happen from time to time in the Scriptures. When I harden my heart I don’t care about putting people into temptation nor do I care whether people have hope. My feelings are more important than you therefore your feelings don’t matter! This is not a permanent choice I will make as a follower of Jesus! I may make it initially because I am human filled with sin but the skills I have learned from Elohim will not allow me to put my own selfish soul in front of my mothers or anyone else’s. If we profess to love Jesus this is the only stance we should take therefore the only thing left to do is right the situation!
Guarding my mouth and tongue!
I didn’t guard my mouth so well but I will make amends with my tongue because my soul has trouble! I know my soul has trouble because the Spirit is pinching it. If your soul never has trouble than I can say with all honesty Satan controls your soul but if it even has the slightest trouble the Spirit is taking control. When the Spirit has control He leads us with a soft heart for people and ourselves. He not only helps us to see what we have done but He provides us with a way out! The way out includes the vision for a future hope of this not happening again affectively avoiding future soul troubles. These plans are called ‘setting up boundaries.’ This is a life skill many fail to establish and if they do they fail to protect them! The Spirit pinches us about the offence then He draws our attention to a verse we have read before then with our remembrance of said verse we become aware of the gravity of our offence. Our soul becomes so troubled we begin to cry out for relief. This is when we know for certain we have chosen them over us!
A Permanent Guard!
It makes complete sense we should get to this place if we are a child of Elohim but our goal should be to never get to this place again by setting up a boundary/rule about this situation or others. Perfecting the life skill of setting boundaries will serve you well in the future. Adhering to boundaries takes practice and determination but the clear speaking of it is the very first step. If we look at my situation clearly we can determine I was vulnerable from a whole day of teaching plus the days before from prep work! My mind was exhausted, but not dead, therefore I was able to make positive decisions such as talking to myself about my tongue but my mouth was left unguarded therefore I made a bad decision in regard to what was going into it. I still snapped at my husband but I was quick to apologize never to do it again on that night because I had talked to myself. I had the wherewithal to guard the output but not the input.
A way out and a way never!
I have the way out of this situation (make it right) but I must come up with way for it never to happen again (put a guard up for my mouth). I will not fool myself into thinking I can cure this particular soul trouble over night, as I told you food has been a problem for my mom and I for as long as I can remember. Reality has to remain a factor in setting boundaries and maintaining them effectively. Since, I am effected by this exhaustion for days before and the night of, I must hold to a mouth and tongue boundary for several days before as well as on the very day. I bought the said junk food the day before the retreat without the prior plan to buy it, my first mistake. It was a quick decision based on a lack of a plan for this mindset, no plan was my second mistake. To overcome the soul trouble resulting from brain exhaustion I will set a food boundary during this time – the buying of it and the eating of it! I will set this boundary while I am free from exhaustion and thinking clearly about what I should eat and what I should buy. Since my next retreat isn’t for two months I will have plenty of time to practice this boundary before the actual time arrives.
You know your weakness…
Since boundaries are about the yes’s and the no’s we have to discover our weaknesses and also discover what will work for us to overcome it. It takes practice to know what will work but you too can plan in advance what you will say or do during a weak moment. You alone (and the Spirit) know when it will occur and what it will take to overcome the event that will cause soul trouble. This is the very thing Jesus is talking about when He says, “To him who overcomes!” He knows we need reward but He also knows when the stakes are high we will come through. It is not about the deed it is about taking the way out and planning a way to stay out. To do this we must know who we are and what our weakness are and plan to tap into our strengths as our way out. This is something we are fully capable of doing when we use what God gives us plus making the choice to be an overcomer in the Kingdom of God!
