Recently I find myself enduring times when I feel like words are not enough, when words quite literally fail me. Now for me this is truly an unsettling experience. A little explanation as to why; I love words! To the extreme that I feel a thesaurus is a waste of time. Words should have meaning, a unique characteristic that gives them their worth. Though a word may be similar to another word it's not - A right word used correctly is powerful!
Part of this philosophy is born out of a civics lesson in middle school, where the teacher did an inspired job of explaining the power of the Words in the U.S. Constitution. How the framers of a fledgling nation labored over finding the words that would give birth to a country. The other reason why I have such an affinity for words is as a result of my studies into the Bible.
The more I read the Bible the more impressed I am at how the words in it inspire and motivate, how they bring comfort and peace. The intentionality of the words is brilliant and conveys truths about the nature, the very attributes of God! Those examples have challenged me to be just as deliberate in my speech and writings, to be aware of what I want to say and to say it with the greatest efficacy.
But recently my words, my words have failed me. I have been experiencing Life and God in ways that have left me wanting to articulate emotions and thoughts but with no success. All I have been able to do is sigh; my mind yielding to the deepest recesses of my soul.
My recent predicament has led me to search for insight from the Bible and as a result, I've rediscovered the Psalms. In Psalms chapter 5 vs. 1 King David says, "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing." I love the "words" part, but God also understands sighing?
King David also writes, "Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;" (Psalm 79:11 KJV). I wonder, are there moments, such as right before death, when life is so overwhelming that all that can be said is actually something not said.
In the Gospel of Mark, he recounts two instances of Jesus sighing. Both occurrences fill me with awe. Jesus sighs right before opening the ear of a deaf man (Mark 7:34) and right before he speaks on not giving a generation a sign (Mark 8:11). Does he do it out of sadness or anger, longing or frustration? Or can it be that sighing, sighing is just the appropriate way to communicate a truth in your soul to God?
I think sometimes sighing can speak more than words, more than a song, more than a poem. Sighing gets God's attention! Now, when I sigh, it will get mine as well.
