Only words?

"There are some words that come from so deep inside you that they stay within you forever, haunting you like a beautiful memory..."

As a former writer of poetry I can assure you this is truth. Regardless of whether I scribbled a few lines on a scrap piece of paper 5 years ago, some of those words flowed from so deep inside that I can never shake them. I am revisited by them every now and again, and sometimes those words float through my head like a melody, reminding me of my exact surroundings and life at the time that I wrote them.

Those words can be like a time machine....

It's quite extraordinary actually. Words, pieces of music, poetry or phrases have the ability to transport you. Some carry deep meaning because you have lived them, or you have given life to them. 

My poetry and writing used to be almost a form of therapy. I was never good at keeping diaries, but I could write poems and sonnets and songs. And for me it was much easier because I could play a character. I could be the heroine of my story or the damsel in distress. I could weave beautiful words or tragic tales and I didn't have to be me. 

This writing also coincided with my love of reading. Some nights I stayed up all night reading, racing through pages to finish a book, living and walking and breathing the lives of those characters. But its exhausting really to be yourself and a host of characters too. 

Since then I've matured and realized that it was time to take off the mask and stop pretending. But those words still have stayed with me. 

Words are powerful in that way. They tend to flow out of your heart and determine the path you will walk down. 

Which was precisely why I decided to stop masquerading. 

But what I find interesting about words is their creative ability. The right words formed in the right manner at the right time will paint an image inside of you that is ironically unspeakable beautiful. And wrong words in the wrong manner at the wrong time have the ability to crush and kill the spirit of a person. 

Words stay with you forever. And some scars are so deep they cannot be seen. But every painful second they are felt. 

Words become a part of you. The images that you let words paint inside of you will determine how you see yourself and in a broader view they will choose your destiny in this life. Words become apart of you. 

Words frequently spoken, much like poems frequently recited, trickle down deep into you until they become embedded in the very fiber of your being. And then they begin to illuminate themselves outward and become what you speak and say to others. They set the boundaries of your world and determine your limitations. 

What you think you can accomplish you will try. But if the words "can't, not, won't, shouldn't, and fail" frequent your mind, then you process these as truth and believe them. Your boundaries for what you can and can't accomplish have been set and until you remove these negatives, your boundaries will stay limited. 

When I think about words and how spoken words speak to you and become a part of you, painting your world, I am reminded of meditation. 

In English the word meditation often brings to mind the type of meditation frequently witnessed in Eastern religion. This kind of meditation requires outside silence and the meditation takes place solely in your mind. The idea is to empty yourself and mentally focus. 

But the Hebrew word for meditation is one that sparks great interest in me. It is hagah and it means to reflect, to moan, to mutter, to ponder, to make a quiet sound such as sighing; to meditate or contemplate something as one repeats the words. In Hebrew thought, to meditate on the Scriptures is to repeat them in a soft, droning sound, while utterly abandoning outside distractions. 

Hebrew meaning of meditation

This gave birth to a type of Jewish prayer called "davening" which is reciting texts, praying intense prayers, or getting lost in communion with God while bowing or rocking back and forth. 

What amazes me is that the person who prayers quietly reflects on a text or phrase and as they ponder they recite it. I'm not talking about mindless chanting which requires no thought. I'm talking about letting the words wash over you until you begin to be saturated and revelation crashes down. These words become so intense and powerful that they begin to drive a person to movement (hence the rocking back and forth). 

This type of meditation is what truly stakes the boundaries in our life. Let the words from the lips of Jesus Christ set the boundaries in your life. Let them drive you to action as you begin to "stretch out the curtain of your dwellings." 

In Isaiah 54 something which seems quite like insanity occurs. God begins to speak to childless women (which was considered shameful and the women were seen as cursed in those times) and instructs them to sing. 

"Break forth into singing and cry aloud! You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the Lord. 

He goes on to tell them to "enlarge the place of your tent and stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right and to the left , and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited." 

as you can see from the writing, I've spent some time here

You see, God is speaking and telling these women to saturate themselves with the Words that He speaks...to BREAK FORTH INTO SINGING when they wanted to mourn the fact that they were childless. 

When they thought that there houses should be diminished, because they had no children, He instructs them to expand. Grow your dwelling areas, increase your living space, strengthen your walls and lengthen them! Your descendants will become multitudes! Prepare for it! 

He uses words to paint an image. This image of multitudes of descendants drives these women to increase their dwellings, build additions, and prepare for children. 

When God spoke similar words to Abraham the nation of Israel was born. 

And what a miracle that it did not come from some young couple, well able and prepared for children. It came from a hundred year old man and his 90 year old wife who did not have children before, who were not able. 

So are you letting limiting words cause you to spare? Does it seem impossible? Then yes, its probably exactly what you are called to do. God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. 

An even greater miracle comes when we empty ourselves of our own strength and capacity and do those things which only God can accomplish through our acts of obedience to His words. 

Think on the words you want to stay with you. Think on the ones that will stretch your boundaries, not shrink them. Think on the words that will cause you to spare not. Let them wash over you, let them paint a new image, let them drive you to action and enlarge the place of your territory. 

Only words? Think again.