“He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit” (Proverbs 17:27).

Serving breakfast this morning, a jar of Gramma's homemade Wild Alaskan Currant jam fell and shattered on the kitchen floor.  (Sorry, Mom!)  The toast wasn’t spread, but the floor was, and praise the Lord, after twenty years of mothering I’m tongue-tied.  I’m sure I gasped, but frankly a gasp, no matter how grand, holds nothing over those verbalizations more difficult to wipe away than shattered glass and sticky jam.    

Everything is not always as we would like it to be.  What is needed when something special has been shattered?  Made a mess of?  When the world’s most powerful scrub-brush and detergent named “Joy” end up in the sink and down the drain?  Apparently we need a calm spirit and to hold our peace and, yes, another joy.  Gotten where?  We are told; from the mouth of God come knowledge and understanding.  

God has spoken; know what He has said.  Knowing His word, we know what to say, what not to say, and get understanding that affects the spirit.  Knowing His word, we know that God is familiar with shatterings, messes, and sticky jams, and that His joy is never drained.  If the answer of our mouths, the calm of our spirits, and our joy come from the offerings of His, then we have what we need.  Go to the mouth of God.

Author: Carolyn Roehrig