Miracle Challenges

September 23rd, 2018 Posted in writing

One day a deaf man with a speech impediment had his dream come true. He met Jesus, who cured his deafness and made him able to speak plainly. (Mark 7)

But the miracle left the man with challenges. First of all, though he could now hear clearly, he needed to learn the meaning of the words he had never heard before. He was like someone coming to a country whose language he didn’t know. He might even have heard someone calling his name but at first not know they were talking to him.

Then, when it came to speaking, if his speech had been garbled and hard to understand, he now had to learn how to use his lips, tongue, teeth, and breathing so that his words would be meaningful to others and not come across simply as random noises. That task would certainly take some effort.

And one other challenge faced him —- a challenge that we all have to deal with, namely, how to judge between words and messages that are worth hearing or speaking and those which are not. For not everything that is said deserves a hearing, while some of the things we may want to say are better left unsaid. In that regard, perhaps one simple rule is to listen to and say the things that ultimately build people up and give hope, not those that merely tear down and demoralize. And by hearing and speaking words and messages of affirmation, love and encouragement, we are actually hearing and echoing God’s own words and messages, too.

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