Embracing the Power of Words: Navigating Life's Wilderness with Faith and Intention

Hey y'all, it's The Walking Well podcast. I'm your host, Gilon Marts. Thank you for tuning in, thank you for listening. We're in season seven, and season seven is all about when you find yourself in the wilderness, when you find yourself in a place where you don't know what's going on, where God seems silent or far away, where you feel stretched beyond belief, where things are just shifting and changing, and it's very uncomfortable. And so season seven is my tips for the wilderness, not necessarily like answers or 'this is how you get out of it', but like when you find yourself here

these are the things that have helped me in this space. And so we've talked about having to be hopeful. We've talked about making peace with time, participating in our faith, prayer and praying, and today is about words. And if you follow the podcast, you know I'm really passionate about how we use our words, because they are just such an expression of our authority as believers. They are such an expression of our autonomy, our ability to speak to something and see things shift and change based on what we release into the atmosphere and to the earth. And so this is- it's not beating a dead horse, but it's just kind of like getting on that pedestal again, or that soapbox again to say here even now, especially here, in a space where things just feel like out of whack, it's still important to pay attention to our words. So Proverbs 18: 21 is one of my favorite verses when it comes to how we use our words, which basically says death and life are in the power of the tongue, but they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. And so two really key ideas, which is you have a lot of influence with your words. You have a lot of influence with your words towards yourself, towards others, your world, but then also that your reality may very well be based on the words that you've released- you know, your existence, the things that you're seeing or not seeing. You m ay be able to trace that stuff , to go, Oh wait, I might be delivering on my words. You know this might be a reflection of what I've said or failed to say.

And so my main idea for this episode, the main point I want to make, is that your words shape reality, and not shape reality in the sense of like, oh, i can get myself up out of this space if I just speak against it, like that's not gonna work, don't try it. But it is to say that the way that you experience this place, the way that you experience and move through and posture yourself in this space, will be very much so dependent upon and influenced by your words. You know, the scripture says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And I know, for me, when I realized like Oh, this is a place that you've placed me and I'm not getting up out of it anytime, sooner than you intend for me to get out of it, i was doing a lot of complaining. I was like I was talking to my therapist, i was talking to my mom, journaling, and all of it was just like this is not working, that's not working. What's going on? I thought you said, you know, just doing all of that, and I think there's a place for that in the wilderness, like I think we have a, you know, a reflection in the Psalms of David and others, just kind of crying out like this is what it is, this is how I feel, this is what I'm thinking And I'm just going to dump all of that at your feet. But I think the wilderness is really tempting because we can find that that's our only declaration, that's the only thing that's coming out of our mouth is this is not working. This is uncomfortable. We hate it here And here. If not, it's just as important here as anywhere else any other season in life to pay attention, to be intentional with our words.

When I was walking through anxiety in 2019- ish, the importance of the words that I spoke was so clear and like was just so clearly demonstrated to me, because I think that whole faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, but also making a daily declaration in alignment with truth and alignment with the word of God. Things moved and shifted in ways that I was like oh, this might be a thing, this is real, and it really changed my posture on the words that I said Like you just not catch me being like, oh my God, I'm dead, lol. Like, no, I don't ever. I'm like oh, my words are real important, they're influential. I'm not about to declare death over me And you can think that's deep, And that's fine, I don't care.

I'm real careful with my words because I've seen the positive impact. I've seen how my words have shifted emotional spaces and spiritual spaces for me, so I'm not just going to throw stuff around willy-nilly, but again in the wilderness, you can feel so much pressure that that's just what's coming up out of you, and I think my encouragement, you know, to you listener, a watcher, is to not fall off of what you know to do, especially in the area of your words. Right? Your words are still going to bring life or death. Your words are still going to be something that create a reality and shape a reality for you, and so, you know, if you're not intentional with them, you're complaining. Not that you don't get the right to vent to the Lord or to your people- you do have that right. But it can't be the only thing that you're doing with your words is basically what I'm saying. You have to be intentional.

I've had to be intentional with using my words in a way that directs my focus to what I want to see, to the reality I want to experience, and so sometimes, a lot of times, you can use your words to direct your focus. You know, like I said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and so your words are belying where your focus is, and if your focus is in, nothing is working, everything is going wrong. God's not listening. You're hearing that, you know. You are hearing that first. And if faith comes by hearing, then are you building your faith in a reality that you don't want to really experience right? L ike, is your faith or your unbelief being built in the direction of 'God is not faithful', 'God is not listening', 'he's turned his back on me', 'he's forgotten me', 'his word is not true', 'he is not faithful'. 'I can't trust him'. Like, if that's what you're saying and that's what's stewing in your heart, that's going to be what comes up out of you, and then you're going to hear it and it's just going to feed into the system, the cyclical system, and it's going to have the opposite effect.

I really think that there were things that the children of Israel did that kind of prolonged, obviously, their experience in the wilderness. And complaining and the refusal to believe God, I think are two really key things, because when you complain, when you spew out all of the things that go contrary to what you hope to experience, you're hearing that and your faith is being built in that. There's a scripture that says Jesus was talking to disciples, talking to people, and he's like hey, if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, be thou removed and cast in the sea and it'll obey you. And obviously we're not watching mountains get tossed into the sea, but I think what he's saying, I believe what Jesus was saying in that space, is a little bit of faith has a lot of, a lot of bit of movement, right? And so if I'm building my faith or my unbelief because faith is just belief in the positive direction right, if I'm fostering an unbelieving heart, if I'm going yeah, God's not, God's not, God's not. And I'm eating that, how can I expect to see God move? I can't even. I can't pray faithful prayers. I can't wake up in the morning with expectation that God is going to be who he said he's going to be, and so now all of my energy, all of my authority is being partnered with an outcome I don't even want. Right? And so we have to also be really mindful of that, that it's not just going to be a way that we direct our focus, but that we have to be mindful that we are creative speaking beings, that we have authority all up in our words. Our words are laced with authority, and you can see this not just in Christian spaces, but out in the world. The world knows, hey, when I say something, I speak it, I'm bringing it towards me because it's just a natural law. It's a law that God has put in the earth that impacts everybody. And so if I'm someone that speaks- not if I, because I'm someone that speaks and things obey me because God created me in his image and that's how God rules, I got to be mindful of what I'm partnering my authority with right? I have to be mindful of how I take the authority the God-given the authority I have to speak and see things move and change, and what I'm, what I'm associating that with right? And so this is really just an encouragement to be mindful.

When you're in the, when you're in the desert and things are tight and you're feeling stretched and it's really uncomfortable, it's okay to journal, it's okay to vent, it's okay to say whatever you- you need to say to get it off of your chest. But man, regroup, regroup, regroup. I remember there was a time I was writing in my journal, I was just fuming just like God, this and this and this and this and this and this. And I sat back and I just was like, okay, we just said a lot of negativity, not just negativity, like you're not supposed to be negative. But, like we just said, God isn't, God didn't, God this God, this God, this. There's no way that God is absolutely not coming through. There's no way. That's just- that can't just be, that just can't be the truth, right?

So now I had this opportunity to reflect and go, that all-- everything was bad. Is everything bad? Like, are there some good things happening? Let's be honest, sis, like, let's be truthful. And for me in that moment it was like, oh wait, I can see my perspective is off because I'm not even going, God, thank you for breath in my body, Or thank you that my family is healthy. God, I'm believing you for healing for this person. I'm not seeing it right now, but you said you're a healer. Like, I'm not even engaging in that process.

It's one of those things like, so, as a therapist, if someone sits down with me and they're like this isn't going right, that's not going right, everything is wrong. I know, because I'm sober thinking, I'm not as tight up in, as close up in their circumstances- I know the likelihood that everything is going wrong is highly unlikely. There's something going well, something is going right in their universe, right? But because they're so like, focused so tight in on the thing that's not going well, they can't see it. And so it's my job to reflect and go wait, didn't you get a promotion last week? Well, last time we talked, you said your daughter was like having this conversation with you, was opening up and being honest, and that wasn't something that she had done before. So that's, I mean, that's a win, right? So now I have to reflect back to them like, wait a second. I know that's what you're saying, but some of your perspective is off, right? And so in this space, I think it's really important that we not only have people that can go, I hear what you're saying; that's not the whole truth. It's important that we can do that for ourselves, but I think the main way that we're able to kind of step back is to be able to go, Wait,

what has God said to me? Right? I'm talking about the importance of words. What has God said to me? What are promises God made me? What are whispers that God gave me in night seasons? What are dreams that I've had? Let me go back through my journals, through times when I remember things were really good and really tight, because right now I'm just taking in information through my senses and I'm allowing it to dictate who God is to me. God has been faithful, God has been good. This season is just a tight one, and so I need to be reminded of what truth is. And on top of that, I need to say it out loud: God, I'm thankful for... Lord, I see that you did this thing. I was concerned about that. Thank you for working on it. Say it out loud, because as much as we've complained, as much as I've complained about the tightness of the season, about feeling like God are you listening to me As much as I've complained about that or brought up my requests about how I wish things were, I need to also be mindful and intentional with my words and building my faith.

This isn't forever, it's for now. This is where you are today, but know that God is doing something. Lord, thank you that my endurance is being built up. God, you know, if this would have happened a month ago, it might have crumbled me, but I know that because I went through it before I'm getting stronger. It's not impacting me like it used to. I am speaking kindly to myself. What?! That is such progress, Lord, like I'm being gentle with myself. Whoa, this is all good. These are all good things. These are all testaments of God's faithfulness. And so, while maybe some of the big things are still on the way that you're praying for and believing for, it's okay a nd it's important that we pause and go, wait God is still faithful, and I can point out his faithfulness here, here and there.

So that's just my encouragement that, as as much as you're feeling pressed on every side or pulled in every kind of which way, be mindful about using your influence, your authority, in a way that highlights the goodness of God, highlights God's faithfulness, so that your faith can consistently and continually be built up in the God that you know as a deliverer, the God that you know who sees you and knows you and cares for you and carries you. So that's my encouragement: Use your words today to highlight God's faithfulness in your life and gratitude and gratefulness, and just even the moment of like, You know what? I won't be- I won't be dominated by darkness. I'm not going to be overcome by negativity. God is doing something and I refuse to let it go unacknowledged Right. So that's my encouragement to you this week. Pick something that you know God is doing that is a win for you, and thank him for it out loud with your words and be intentional with your words about highlighting the faithfulness of God, the goodness of God and how God is showing up for you, like he's showing up for me in every day, little and big ways.

So that's it for this week. I hope you have an amazing one. Make it a great one. Talk to you guys later. Bye.