Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 10:46, “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
I dare say that there are occasions during your reading of God’s word that you wish there was a bit more explanation provided, even the inclusion of one additional word to more completely express what the Holy Spirit truly meant. Some people would change their entire view of science and creation if Genesis simply noted that the world was created in six 24-hour periods instead of the seemingly less precise time period of six days. Whenever a reference is made to tongues, likewise readers long to be fully convinced whether the sounds being referred to are versions of languages spoken and understood by humans but are not the native language of the speaker, or are they uttering sounds that make sense only to heavenly beings. If the words are actual languages that existed in cultures elsewhere on earth, this blessing by the Holy Spirit for the new believers to be able to cross language barriers is a fascinating twist to the event from centuries earlier at the tower of Babel. For there, as the pride of mankind swelled and his focus turned completely inward on himself, God confused the people with various languages that forced them to disperse and gather with those who shared the same new tongue.
But here, at the dawning of His church, God pours out a multitude of languages as a blessing to show His presence and approval of the faith they have placed in the risen Lord. Where the sounds at the Babel tower were surely filled with frustration and cursings towards the God who had interfered in their glorious plan, now the diverse languages lifted praises as they magnified Him for His goodness and greatness. Like so many times in our lives, God had made a blessing out of something that was anything but. Truly, your weakness can become a strength as God manifests Himself through your dependence on Him. What was a source of fear or anxiety can be a place of blessed communion with God as He meets you at your point of need. You just have to trust Him to do it.
As we seek Him today, let God work in your life in the areas that you have not yet placed in His care.
Have a glorious Tuesday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
