Sweet Victory

Gone. Bye-bye. Done deal. That's that. Good descriptions of moments lost and gone forever [unless captured on camera or video] -- a baby's first step, the first homerun, a piano recital, high school graduation.  Pictures and videos are great, but there's nothing like being there!

 

Gone, bye-bye, done-deal, and that's-that are also good descriptions of words ... slips of the wretched tongue.  Oh, the trouble this body part brings to the soul.  How sad we cannot retrieve, retract, rewind, call back those mindless, heartless, reckless words.  And, oh, the high price in endless troubles we pay!  Solomon asked for wisdom above all else, and wise are his words: "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles." (Proverbs 21:23).  Maybe this king knew all too well how it was to lie down at night and recall hurtful, tactless, and careless words spoken to another -- perhaps a loved one or one in despair who desperately needed a word of cheer but instead got ... frivolous chatter.  Unfortunately, the tongue cannot be tied up, restrained, bridled ... at least not for very long.  The only permanent solution to its defeat is ... its surrender.  Over and over, again and again -- surrender to The Creator, who gave it to us and can control and use it for His Glory. Surrender always sounds like such a defeatist or negative word, but where the tongue [and our words] are concerned, its promise is really … sweet victory.