#7wealthywords

Written on August 30, 2015. By Shari Norvell

Not long ago, I was waiting with Pappa. This particular wait was quite active with much from His generous heart, inviting response from mine. The subject of our exchange was the very thing Pappa was demonstrating, generosity.

Over an hour, He expressed much about being generous, yet there was one thread He stitched again and again, in and out until it became a part of my fabric.

And with seven words, He hemmed it in. “Words are wealthy or impoverished. Spend wisely.” Words having power I knew. But He had just taken it so much deeper. Words carry commodity, resource. With them we can release a lavish feast or set a paltry table. Either way, something is spent, invested. And the fruity yield can be tasted. Much like the manna in the wilderness, that taste is sweet or bitter depending on where our words come from. His delicacy laden table or the pantry of our discontent.

Since our meeting on the trading floor, I have been seeking to vest in to the truth of treasure rich words that bring return. The return. Each day, I journal, post or express seven words that aren’t bankrupt.

Some days, these are words He speaks to me. Often, they describe what He intends the day to be and summon me to make them true. Words such as “Littles now BIG, so time to grow” prompt me to try something I haven’t before. Others like, “Venting leads to vengeance; away from trust” pierce me with a truth so wild, I don’t want to be tame again.

Then there are days I spend seven wealthy words to describe Him or moments He gave or spent with me. “Love that is terrifyingly beautiful will last” came from a deep night with my forever beloved after we encountered our eternal One. The discovery I’ve made is that I want to savor the days before I speak of them. I want to express first the reality of how I saw Him that day, what we did together. Tangible are the riches as I spend seven words to tell the testimony of a previous days vesting, “We were changed by His unceasing changelessness.” And through it, I’ve become rich with contentment, understanding and love. Before now, my words were spent trying to get back to love instead of starting there and letting go of everything that hindered it. Including me.

A few days ago, in the middle of listening to creation singing words so rich, we could never be poor again, Pappa spoke. A knowing filled me that this was going to be the story of seven wealthy words He had already breathed to another and written in the endless masterpiece He authored.

“Who darkens my design with thoughtless words?” An audible to Job. This shall go on my list of things I never want to hear from Him right after “get behind me satan” and right before, “why were you torn from me?” In that moment, I had one not so wealthy word dangling, “Yikes!!”

But it resonated and rumbled. It tiptoed and trembled. For my heart stopping, life saving God had just defined poverty, just delineated what words that bounce without funds do. They cloud His intent, they cover His purpose, they conceal what He created with the design of revealing. They steal inheritance from a world already in need.

My seven wealthy words for today: “Not speaking till You’ve spoken. Vested in.”