On the Anvil - Max Lucado [24]
“How long is that alcoholic going to hang around here?”
She turned and went back to the car. She never entered another church building until she died. Those ladies meant no harm, yet seemingly painless gossip did irreparable damage.
These five ideas will help us control our tongues:
1. Never say anything about someone that you wouldn’t say to his face.
2. Never say anything about someone unless she is there to respond.
3. Refuse to listen to someone else’s gossip.
4. Initiate positive statements about people whom you’re discussing.
5. Remember, “the tongue . . . is a fire” (James 3:6).
Do you listen to—or contribute to—gossip?
Is it your habit to think and speak well of others?
Does your tongue need taming? What does the Lord desire of you—and how will you seek to obey him?
42: The Day of the Question. The Question!
The day began simply enough. Saturday morning. I slept an hour later than usual. The morning sun greeted my slow-opening eyes. In groggy semiconsciousness I rolled over, enjoying the slower weekend pace. “Heaven will be an eternal Saturday morning. . . .” Fantasy.
Then I remembered. My eyes popped open. “Today is the day.” I swallowed hard. The day of the question. The question. It turned out to be quite a day. In fact, I’ve never had a day quite like it.
Twilight zone. Dream world. Did I shower? I don’t remember. We had breakfast. Went shopping. I was in and out of reality. Dazed (like I felt when I got my bell rung in college intramural football: “Duh . . . yeah, I think I’m Max”).
All day I felt as if I were in Oz or Disney World. I kept waiting for a commercial to yank me back into reality. Silly symptoms of love that I’d often thought foolish, I now experienced. Sweaty palms. Stuttering. Exuberance. Disbelief.
The day of the question. The question. She didn’t know. At least I didn’t tell her. (Turns out, however, that she expected it. She knew it was coming before I did.)
At T-minus-one-hour and counting, I prayed again as I was driving home from the jewelers (the jewelers, with the ring). “Lord, we’re running out of time. If you don’t want me to do it . . . wreck this van!” He didn’t.
We had Chinese food at my apartment. The butterflies in my stomach weren’t too hungry, so I didn’t eat much. After dinner we sat on the couch. My arm hit a plant on the windowsill over our heads. It fell on top of her. Romantic, huh? Boy, I felt stupid.
We sat down to dessert. I had put my proposal in a fortune cookie. The world stopped as she began to read it. The angels stopped singing to listen. As she opened it, she began to cry. Uh oh, I worried, I’ve done something wrong.
But she said yes.
Had I the pen of a magician I couldn’t describe my feelings at that moment. I was overwhelmed. Euphoric. Elated. Yet humbled that one so special could return my love. And grateful—that God would give me such a gift.
Does God have any part in the decisions and questions of your life?
Think about the gifts he’s given you. Are you grateful to God? How can you live in gratitude?
43: Five Votes of Confidence
Today is a new day. Hence,
1. I refuse to be shackled by yesterday’s failures.
2. What I don’t know will no longer be an intimidation—it will be an opportunity.
3. I will not allow people to define my mood, method, image, or mission.
4. I will pursue a mission greater than myself by making at least one person happy they saw me.
5. I will have no time for self-pity, gossip, or negativism . . . from myself or from others.
What failures are you hanging on to, or even shackled by?
Do you allow people or circumstances to determine your attitudes and actions?
Whose mission do you pursue?
44: The Wedding Prayer
Create in us a love, O Lord.
An eternal love . . .
Your love.
A love that forgives
any failure,
spans
any distance,
withstands
any tempest.
Create in us a love, O Lord.