Lend Your Voice

I love this scripture…

Exodus 34:6-7 – And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

I love this scripture because it makes me think. It helps me to understand situations in my life when they don’t always make sense. Exodus 34 starts with Moses being visited by God on Mt. Sinai on the day God wanted Moses to create the Ten Commandments on stone tablets.

Personally, I do not believe that God sits around counting up all of the things we do wrong and then figuring out ways to punish us for them. I believe God loves each and everyone of us and wants the best for us. I also believe that even though God loves us, we have to make our own choice to love him. I believe that sometimes, its our own choices that can cause us misery and pain. Not to say that when we choose to love and respect God that we won’t feel some pain, sadness or discomfort because we will. I just believe that it is not at the same level of intensity.

Choosing a life with God gives us an opportunity to see and handle life’s challenges in a different way. When we learn to handle situations in a different way we can create a life that we love and enjoy. We can be set free. The part of this scripture that grabs me is…”by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” When we choose to do life on our own, I believe we block our opportunity to live the life God wants us to have and that choice can impact the lives of our children and our children’s children.

My mom had some challenges in her life. She didn’t always want to face them or find a way to deal with them in a positive way. She loved going to church and being around people, however, she never personally dealt with her fears, the things that held her mind captive and was the source of her overwhelming sadness. My mom didn’t talk about those things. As with most men and women in her era, my mom learned to be silent, to deal with her hurts and pain in silence.

My mom taught me that same strategy. Now that I know better, I don’t blame my mom for teaching me to deal with my difficulties in silence. She taught me what she was taught and what she knew. I don’t believe for one second that she knew or understood the ultimate toll living in silence would have on my overall being. Yet, once I found my voice, I found my power. Once I learned and understood that the power of my voice would help me to stop the guilty and iniquity of the fathers (and mothers) from visiting my children and my children’s children.

I have the power to stop generational negativity and curses from continuing to run rampant through my family.  By using my voice, I can empower my children. By listening, I can learn how to do things differently and in a more positive way so that my children don’t have to carry the silent, negative burdens of those who came before him.

Silent no more…:)