Slow of Speech

“I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” — from Exodus 4

John was not an easy person to get to know. He was shy and quiet. He was also a little deaf, and as the years went by he grew more deaf. When people spoke to him, he often seemed not to hear, or he took a long time to answer.

But everyone noticed his eyes. A friend said he had “a wonderful pair of blue eyes” that seemed to look right into your heart.

New missionaries were supposed to spend most of their time learning the language. John did study it. But he also spent many hours studying the Bible, and the mission leaders scolded him. John answered, “First things first.” He had come to India to teach the Bible, so he needed to know it well.

For a long time people thought John would never speak Urdu or Punjabi very well. His first ten years in India were slow, and not many people came to Jesus. Some of the other missionaries thought he was odd, because he spent so much time praying. Years later a friend asked John whether he had known that they did not approve of him. John smiled and said, “Oh, yes, I knew it, but they did not understand me, that was all, they never intended to be unkind.” He was not bitter at all.

Slowly, God loosened John’s tongue. In the end he could preach in Urdu, Punjabi and English, and crowds listened to him. People who spoke Urdu said he spoke it well, even if he sounded a little like a book!

Maybe there is something you find hard. Maybe you are shy, or you find it hard to read, or to hear, or to speak. God made you, and he knows all about it. He can use you just as you are.

Dear God, thank you that you made me. When I feel shy or slow, help me to remember that you are with me and that you can use me. Amen.