If you’re even a little bit of a Bible-studier than you’re familiar with the example James uses in describing the power of our tongue. He said, “A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything or destroy it!” (James 3:4, MSG).
Do you understand the power he was trying to communicate? If we used a car as our example, we would understand how small the steering wheel is in comparison to the rest of our vehicle, yet it has the power to dodge debris in the road or roll a car several times with one wrong move.
But a steering wheel also has the power to keep us on course.
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately. Our tongue literally steers our life. I know you’ve heard this before… we all have. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21). But seriously, do we fully grasp this?
Thankfully, in His mercy, God controls the speed in which we steer our lives. In other words, if our tongue is the steering wheel, God controls the accelerator. And I’m glad He does! Think about it… if you and I literally received everything we said, we’d probably already have flipped our cars (I mean, lives). A car flips way easier at a high rate of speed when the steering wheel is jerked. But at a slow pace, a wrong move on the steering wheel may just cause you to slide a bit.
When our tongue is out of control, God is careful to slow things down for us so we don’t crash.
In fact, when I’ve felt off or unsure, I’ve asked God, “Did I miss the train?” In other words, my heart had vision, but nothing seemed to be happening. I now realize (in His mercy) God slowed His plan down until I could get my steering wheel under control. And once I became more experienced in driving my life with my tongue, His plan began to gain speed.
Does this make sense?
Once I began to understand this myself, my prayer became “God help me with my tongue.” But James said, “No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). I would read that and think, “Maybe the tongue can’t be tamed… But I’m gonna try!” And as soon as I set my heart to try, God helped me.
What do I mean? God didn’t grab my tongue and control it. He can’t do that for any of us, but He can light a fire of desire within us to help.
In the Book of Isaiah, the prophet had an experience with the fire of God that totally changed his tongue. BEFORE THE FIRE, he said, “Woe is me…” (Isaiah 6:5). But AFTER THE FIRE, he said, “Here am I! Send me…” (vs. 8). The Bible says, “Then one of the seraphim [angels] flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar (of fire). And with it, he touched my mouth…” (vs.6-7).
If you’re willing to let the fire of God touch you, you’ll not only become a better driver of your tongue, but you’ll also see your desires achieved much sooner. So don’t pray for God to control your tongue.
Pray for the fire of God to light your heart!
Then you’ll be steering in the right direction (and with the same passion) God always intended for you.
