IMPACT!!!

Yesterday I came across an old message of TD Jakes, and I enjoyed it so much that I searched out old sermons of Woman Thou Art Loosed. In one of those old messages he introduced a woman who spoke a word of encouragement to him when he was a new pastor. TD Jakes said that when he was a new pastor, he backslid after 18 months of ministry. This woman…this evangelist…came directly to TD Jakes and told him to get back to church. Now this could have gone one of two ways. He could have ignored her and gone his own way, and I would have never been blessed by his ministry. Or he could have done exactly what he did, which is listen and respond as God intended. Prior to me hearing this message I heard another story about the impact of a message spoken to another brother. This brother was reunited with his daughter after one word spoken by his pastor. Years of no contact became a response to a convicting message, and he immediately reached out to his daughter. One word spoken in love. One word spoken under the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you about a time I missed my moment to speak such a word. I knew a senior saint who smoked cigarettes. I felt God nudging me to talk to her about smoking. I froze and ultimately dropped the ball. Because of fear I never talked to her about smoking or the impact on her health. Just like Jeremiah said the word was like fire shut up in his bones, I felt that nudge so intensely that I became uncomfortable every time I was around her. Having a word yet never speaking it is a burden because our words have impact to the hearer. We might not know what the word we carry is supposed to do, but it is our job to deliver it. Word carriers have a duty to speak life, to speak words of encouragement, and to do both in love. A 20+ year father-daughter relationship as a result of one word. A 40 year ministry because of one word. Do you still think your words don’t have impact?