ESOCS Devotional 4 November 2024 – Managing Words During Hard Times
MEMORY VERSE: “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.” Job 3:1 KJV
TEXT: JOB 3:1-17
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job spoke, and said:
3 “May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
12 Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the [e]weary are at rest.
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Hard times are usually one of the most difficult moments to manage words. Many times, words flow effortlessly and uncontrollably in the face of adversity and life challenges. If care is not taken, one may utter words out of proportion and eventually incur God’s wrath. Thus, if you cannot manage your words in hard times, you are invariably giving permission to the hard times to manage you.
Job was mysteriously confronted with multiple challenges, his wealth and properties gone, all investment vanished, his children dead. Then came the strange illness without any medical diagnostic green light. In that state of uttermost devastation and frustration, Job decided to curse the day of his birth and wandered why he was born; while praying that he would have died on the day of his birth. Job longed for death to come take him but unfortunately, death ran far away from him.
While it may be practically challenging to be economical with words when one’s world comes crumbling right before your face, it is, however, advised that we remain positive as we speak; it is worthy of note that one of the best word management strategies when in trouble is to sing praises to God. Yes, you resort to praising God instead of speaking carelessly.
This is called adversity praise; it is the kind Paul and Silas gave to God inside the prison (Acts 16:25). Your praise to God will raise you out of that tribulation sooner than expected. Your praise will deliver you out of the hand of the predator of your life. Your praise will pave way of escape for you. Your worship to God will handle your warfare and take care of your welfare.
Beloved, during challenging times, speak less with and to people, and speak more with God in praise. Let your prayers be praise oriented. God surely has a perfect plan for you; don’t faint in the days of adversity.
- Never allow hard times to weigh you down in life.
- Resolve to remain positive with words, no matter what you see in life
- Be prayerful in all circumstances of life.
- Father, thank you for the word of life and hope, give me the grace to speak positivity at all times and wear me garments of praise, in Jesus name. Amen
Further Reading: Proverbs 11:1-12; 1 Corinthians 14:13-25
ESOCS Devotional 4 November 2024
