Our words matter, and we all know words have power. But which words should make the cut in our lives?
Recently, I was working on some devotion pieces where there was a requirement of no more than 300 words. This is difficult for anyone, especially for a woman who explains everything in the smallest detail. It felt like a baby gate of word restriction was being placed around me.
When I was nine and played “house” with my neighborhood friend, I drove her crazy with my over-explaining. I spent most of our allotted outdoor playtime describing the appearance of my house, horses, and outfits in great detail. Eventually, she’d sigh deeply, place her hands on her hips, and beg, “Can we just play now?” Excuse me, I just wanted to make sure we both understood that my horse is brown with white spots, and I live in a white Victorian mansion with dark purple shutters. Geez, how are we supposed to play without this essential knowledge?
So, you can imagine how difficult keeping my lengthy descriptions to 300 hundred words or less was. I am proud to say it was hard, but I did it. Yay for perseverance in the writer’s life!
Jesus, the words that made the cut and the lack of detail
Something occurred to me in this process; Jesus didn’t say much. When Jesus spoke in the gospels, except for a few places, like the sermon on the Mount, it was relatively short and to the point.
The Bible generally is short on descriptions of things and people. Have you noticed that?
There are places in the Bible where I read, and I yearn desperately for just a few more details. And yet, there’s only a little given. Rarely is a person’s appearance explained or what they were feeling, except for a few small adjectives.
- Paul pleaded with God in Second Corinthians to remove a thorn in his flesh; however, we’re not told what it is.
- We’re also given few details about how Jesus looked or when his Earthly father, Joseph, died.
- Remember the apostles? What was their family life like? How many kids did they have? Were they even married? Of course, we know Peter had a wife because in Luke 4:38—among other places— we find Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. But as far as I know, nothing more is mentioned.
There are many more examples, but you get my point for the sake of time (ahem, and word count). For a book that is the best seller of all time and the story of human history, it’s short on detail.
The words that made the cut by God
The words that God allowed in his book were perfectly picked. He didn’t forget to leave out the color of Jesus’s hair or the shape of his face; he didn’t mistakingly forget to inform us of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. This was all very much on purpose.
He gave us exactly what we needed to know and not a word more.
It feels odd for a girl who loves detail to adore a book lacking so much of it. But I’ve found that this makes me love him and his word so much. It’s the mystery behind it all. A God that gives every detail away and would explain how he sustains a vast universe and a tiny human heart all at once isn’t much of a God.
His great mystery and mighty love—the enigma that is him— keeps me wanting to learn more about him. A God that left his word but holds the parts too big for our tiny minds is just the God we need.
This thought was an excellent reminder for me to take note of my words and use them to uplift, encourage, and challenge those in my life. And also to keep them short and sweet when needed. I’ve learned that our words don’t always have to be long-winded to convey our point. Sometimes, less is more.
After all, God’s omnipotent word count was kept to just what we needed: Short, sweet, and to the point.
As always, friend, thank you for stopping by,
