See the Evil, Hear the Evil, still Speak No Evil

     I am throwing down the gauntlet. Boom. Here it is: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You..." O.K. I know. That doesn't sound so tough. We all want to do the right thing and please the Lord with what we say and do. But, let me go a little farther here.
    I was sitting in church Sunday, minding my own business, when God clearly showed up in the moment to school me on this passage. The pastor of the church we have recently been attending, began to pray for the leaders in the city, state, and eventually, the president. Now I know that our current president has stirred up plenty of emotions in many Christians. But, when we began to pray for him, the Lord reverberated over and over something within my spirit about the attitude that we can often take when we read the daily headlines, or listen to the news, and hear, or see Obama's name in the title. It's not an attitude of blessing, but an overall mindset of curses that come out of people. I am guilty, too, of not praying for God's wisdom to be revealed through righteous counsel. I don't regularly pray the Lord's protection upon him, let alone his wife and daughters. But, instead I think the worst in my heart. And often, I speak ugly words.
     So, again and again God said to me, "Watch your words. Keep your heart pure." In the next moment, within the intersecting thought that had slammed me, came more. It all began to unravel. This wasn't just about the president, who, in truth, really doesn't have that much affect on my daily life at all. He's too far off. So, in theory, it may be a bit difficult to keep my mouth and heart in check, but come on, I know that he isn't going to be the biggest stumbling block in this challenge. The thing God was hitting home for me  was about the people I interact within my daily life. My husband, my kids, the guy in the car ahead of me in traffic that just cut me off, even the oblivious woman in the baking aisle that won't move her shopping cart for me to pass...grrrrr.
     My mouth and my meditations should mirror God's voice and His thoughts.  Even when I am frustrated, angry, or hurt by others. Oh, ouch. This is gonna be harder than I thought, especially when I start examining all the reasons that I justify the junk that comes out, and wow, the stuff I keep hidden away inside. Now, there's the rub!
     So, I guess in a way if you want to label this "challenge" as a "New Year's Resolution", you may. I already know that some days I will fail at it miserably. I am a weak, and a hopelessly flawed human. Yet, I also know this is one thing I can strive to live out this year. So, the next time I begin to react with my mouth or in my heart, I will choose to pray blessings. I want my knee jerk reaction to be one of blessing. Satan can stuff his curses in a sack.