“Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.”
—Ezekiel 3:1 KJV
I appreciate when the Lord gives me a message in advance.
Whether I am preparing a devotional, writing a blog, or getting ready to speak face-to-face, I like having time to sit with what He has given me. I do not want to receive something and immediately rush to release it. I want to think about it. Pray over it. Examine it. And most importantly, I want to give the Word time to examine me.
Because sometimes the message God gives us is meant to minister to us before it ever reaches anyone else.
In Ezekiel 3, God instructed Ezekiel to eat the scroll before going to speak to the people. The Word had to enter him before it could come through him. It was not enough for Ezekiel to hold the scroll in his hands or repeat what was written on it. He first had to consume it. The message had to become a part of him.
There is a difference between having something to say and carrying something God has allowed to settle within you.
We live in a time when everything moves quickly. We can have a thought, type it, post it, and share it with hundreds of people within minutes. But every thought does not need to be released the moment it enters our minds. Every revelation does not need an immediate audience. Sometimes God gives us something early because it needs time to develop within us.
A message may be true and still be delivered too soon.
Sitting with the Word gives God time to reveal more than the first thing we noticed. It allows Him to correct our motives, soften our tone, and show us whether we are speaking from conviction or reacting from emotion. What initially sounds like a message for someone else may become a mirror for us.
We may begin by asking, “Lord, who needs to hear this?”
But after sitting with it, the better question may become, “Lord, what are You showing me?”
That private work matters.
Before we speak about forgiveness, God may ask us to examine the resentment we have been carrying. Before we encourage someone else to trust Him, He may uncover the area where we are still trying to maintain control. Before we warn others about their conduct, He may remind us that our own witness is speaking too.
God does not merely prepare messages. He prepares messengers.
And preparation does not always happen behind a microphone, at a desk, or in front of an open Bible. Sometimes it happens while we are driving. Sometimes it happens while washing dishes, sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, or replaying a conversation that will not leave our spirit. God will place a thought before us and then allow life to show us why it matters.
If we move too quickly, we may miss what He is trying to develop.
Sitting with a message does not mean we are afraid to speak. It means we respect the responsibility of speaking. We understand that words carry weight, especially when we attach God’s name to them. We do not want to use the Word merely to correct other people while refusing to let that same Word correct us.
The message should leave evidence in the messenger.
If we are speaking about grace, there should be evidence that grace has touched the way we handle people. If we are speaking about patience, there should be evidence that God has dealt with our impatience. If we are speaking about guarding our witness, there should be evidence that we are willing to examine the places where our own witness may be vulnerable.
No, we will not be perfect. God has never required perfection before He can use us. But He does require surrender. He wants us to remain teachable enough to receive the same truth we are preparing to give.
And sometimes, after sitting with what God has given us, we may discover that it was never meant to become a post, sermon, devotional, or public conversation. Some words are seeds God plants privately. Some are warnings meant to protect us. Some are instructions meant to redirect us. Some are simply invitations to draw nearer to Him.
Everything God gives us is valuable, but everything He gives us is not necessarily for public consumption.
That is why we must sit with it.
Let the Word search you before you use it to search someone else. Let it humble you before you use it to instruct someone else. Let it heal you before you offer it as medicine to someone else.
When the time comes to release it, you will not merely be sharing words you wrote. You will be sharing truth that has already spent time working within you.
Before you ask God who needs the message, ask Him what the message needs to do in you.
A Provoking Thought
Some messages need to sit in you before they are ready to flow through you.
Let Us Pray
Father, thank You for every word You entrust to us. Teach us not to rush ahead of You. Give us the patience to sit with what You have spoken and the humility to allow Your Word to examine us first.
Purify our motives, soften our tone, and guard us from using Your truth to point at others while refusing to look within ourselves. Help us recognize the difference between something You have given us to share and something You have given us to live.
Prepare our hearts before You use our voices. Let the messages we carry leave evidence in the lives we live. And when it is time to speak, help us do so with truth, wisdom, grace, and love.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
PROVOKING THOUGHTS
Pause. Examine. See differently. Draw nearer.
Smiling Atcha
LadyT
