An Answer Without Use of a Tongue

 Time is flying. Summer has accelerated and the moments that I imagined in the bleakness of winter are slipping past me faster than I can fully grasp them. The days are filled with herb books, note-taking, yardwork, and normal chores. 

 Foster care has been sparse but we are in contact with the foster daughter that left. It is surprising to hear from her and yet relieving that she is no longer on the run and in treatment. Her phone conversations are limited and so I write in hopes that I can minister to her. My knowledge of ministering is not a skill that garners attention or accolades nor do I wish it to but I do wish that it were smoother, wiser, and softer. Truly God chooses the foolish things...

 In life I have come  across people who have patiently listened as I shared my faith and those who set out to shut me up before I said a word. Other times, a debate arose and the urge to press my point, to win the argument spurred on my tongue but God has brought me to a different place. A vast expanse is before me and I can see for miles the very details of where I am. Though I have proclaimed the place, those around me say that I may think what I wish but they do not believe as I. To argue would be to claw at the Truth I proclaim therefore I take my tongue captive along with my thoughts. Here is the lesson I have learned in living with loved ones:

 It matters not if one says that they do not believe what I believe. This is not a point that I am to argue. One cannot truly proclaim that they do not believe in air yet use the very breath gained from it to speak the words. So what if someone says they do not believe what I do? For their words are meaningless when their actions show that they draw back to the one that they disagree with and that is why I dare not argue. Every moment I live I wish to expose the gloriousness of God and there is nothing within me that would attract someone in whom God is not doing a work. My position is plainly laid out and it is known that I cannot remove God from my being any more than I could remove my flesh nor am I worth interest without God. What I was before Him, I would be now - a pile of selfish anger balled up with  depression and neediness, rejected and despised. If you continue to seek me out, it is not me that you desire. 

 Yes, I agree that we cannot just "live out the Gospel." We must proclaim it but once you have set Truth before someone, like declaring a territory by staking your flag, you do not have to argue that the flag exists or what the flag means. The next logical step would be to live each moment before them in Spirit and Truth building upon the ground that is claimed. This does not mean that I do not pray or talk about God. I cannot help but do those things, it means that I trust God and the Holy Spirit to work without my interfering tongue; for what argument do I have that is better than God of creation taking on flesh to be the propitiation so that man may be restored to God? It is my desire to see that happen to all those that I love.

 Many flags are marched about today with screaming tongues underneath but a stand for Christ is better served with a cross and enduring in Truth. It is not a loosening of Truth or dressing it up or a shrinking away; it is a firm hold of victory that has yet to come in this earthly time. May we persevere in love but do not mistake what I am saying as an answer to every situation, especially not false teachers for that is a response of a completely different position and probably a much longer post.