Like many people, I occasionally develop a new bad habit regarding sleep. Sometimes you discover a great Netflix show to binge-watch and it causes you to repeatedly go to bed late. Perhaps the neighbor gets a new puppy, and it howls into the morning hours causing your sleep to be disturbed. Maybe you get a new puppy; same outcome, and you are also probably disturbing your neighbor’s sleep too, so be considerate and bring over some “I’m sorry” cookies. A little goes a long way. And let’s not even talk about new babies, toddlers, children, and especially teenagers. All terrible sleep-disturbers.
But alas, my new sleep issue is not of the usual sort, but a more peculiar problem. I have been having trouble sleeping, and I toss and turn at night (this isn’t the weird part). And apparently, I have been working through some of my stress issues in my dreams, which has caused me to (here comes the weird…) start biting my tongue in my sleep. Yup, strange. So, this morning I woke to find that even though I had vivid dreams playing out scenarios of my real-life stresses, I thankfully was not suffering from a tongue injury. I’m cured! Probably not, but it did cause me to pause and think on all the ways and reasons we “bite our tongue” in sacrifice of not offending or causing a situation to become more difficult.
This pondering took a turn to Jesus, as I thought about the fact that he didn’t have any issue speaking the truth, however in many occasions he did not purposefully lead with the offensive reality. Case in point? The woman at the well. John 4 gives a vivid recount of the scene, complete with all the reasons why Jesus could have been bristly with the woman in which he would ultimately disclose that he was the Messiah, before he told anyone else.
Reason 1: He was in Samaria, yup, that Samaria, the place where there were cultural tensions, and Jews did not associate with the people of that city. (Jn 4:4)
Reason 2: The man was tired and thirsty, and if you have ever been “hangry” in your life, it lends to a certain mood that is not welcoming of conversation. (Jn 4:6)
Reason 3: He didn’t have his peeps with him, all his disciples had gone to town and here was this woman bugging him about why she couldn’t give him a drink. (Jn 4:7-9)
Reason 4: He was Jesus, therefore knew all her intimate secrets, which he could have started the convo with, and ending with “Just give me the water” and something to the effect of why she didn’t deserve to be in his presence. (Jn 4:9, Jn 4:18)
Reason 5: She was giving him a history lesson in their cultural differences. Wow. But don’t we do the same, lol. (Jn 4:12, Jn 4:19)
All things considered, it was surprising that Jesus took this particular opportunity to share hope and renewal. Then again, that’s Jesus. But aren’t we supposed to do the same? What would that look like in your life?
When we see situations that come to us, (it’s not like Jesus went looking for this woman, he was simply thirsty and sitting at the well), perhaps there is a bit of tongue biting that is appropriate, if not even beneficial. Jesus knew things about this woman and her situation but chose how to lay them out in front of her. He spoke in Spirit and truth. (Jn 4:24)
That same Spirit of our Lord lives in us. So, shouldn’t we be doing the same? Listening to the Spirit?
Eph 4:15-16 “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.”
The woman went home changed. And it changed many of the others in her town. Don’t we want the same?
Prayers and Petition 