Stop Spouting

Sometimes our journey leads us right into the path of spouting – not pouting (well maybe that too) but rather spouting – spouting off that is. Don’t worry – we are not alone. We come upon it time and again throughout the Bible.


John told Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t one of our group.” "Don’t stop him!" Jesus said. "No-one who performs miracles in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us."  (Mark 9:38 NLT)

Along with the disciples spouting their opinions kings and prophets did as well.

“So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”

“I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the LORD and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.” (1 Kings 18: 16-19 NLT)

What do we do when we find ourselves standing on the road of our journey spouting words, accusations, or silly things that in the end do not matter? In that moment we often have nowhere to go, we don’t know what to do, or how to continue on with our journey. Elijah knew what to do. He would let the Lord battle this argument between him and Ahab. It would become the battle of the Gods.

It is quite the story and you must continue reading about it in Kings. In the end the Lord received the victory and the glory. Where does that leave us? “I want God to fight my battles!” we often shout. The problem is – (and boy do I struggle with this one myself) we don’t know how to turn off the faucet. You see Elijah could have stayed a while bantering and bickering back and forth with Ahab but he didn’t. He immediately stopped the bantering and got right to the point – God being in the center of it.

I came across an interesting Proverb from my Bible reading today:

“Don’t talk too much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!” (Proverbs 10:19

So my goal for the journey ahead is to know when to turn off the flow and hand my spouting over to God.