“Congenial conversation—what a pleasure! The right word at the right time—beautiful!” – Proverbs 15:23 (The Message)
Communication, by definition is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information — by speech, writing, or signs. All of these venues are available to us as we communicate with God. We can talk to Him directly, write our thoughts to Him in a journal or make some visible expression of how much we love Him, through praise and worship. But communication with others is sometimes a little more difficult and a discipline that we must practice so we can all be fully appreciated—with no misunderstandings. The Bible tells us that our communication with one another must be open, forthright and honest. Bad communication usually gets us into trouble and can hurt a lot of feelings—often requiring lots of time to repair—sometimes years. Especially in a marriage.
I read a cute story about a young couple that were contemplating marriage but had trouble communicating that to each other. Ian Johnstone and Amy Dolby were dating in Britian when Ian decided to spend a year traveling around Australia. The 27 year-old bricklayer was already in Australia when he realized just how much he missed Amy So Ian earned enough money to take a flight home, to surprise Amy, and ask for her hand in marriage. That would have been a Cinderella story, except she wasn’t there. It turns out Amy had been missing Ian, too. So she had decided to surprise him by flying to Australia.
They managed to miss each other as they each flew 11,000 miles in opposite directions. At one point they were even in the same Singapore airport at the same time waiting for connecting flights, but they didn’t see each other. Ian finally proposed by phone in Britain when Amy contacted him from Australia. She accepted. Wow, if they would have just communicated, they could have had enough money for a honeymoon!
Did you know that the Bible is a collection of sixty-six books of communication from God to us that reveals His love for us and what we can look forward to when we give our lives to Him? Some call the Bible, “God’s Love Letter” to His creation. I like that. But did you also know that the Bible contains timely words of instruction, assurance and comfort, whenever we feel lost, unsure and need direction—especially when we may not know what to say to someone we love? So let me encourage you to look for love in the Bible and then communicate it to the one you love. It could save you a long trip! Maranatha!
Pastor Don
