On February 2nd this year, after church, my family and I drove to another town to visit my dad and go hiking. We were listening to music along the way. When we travel, we take turns selecting a song from YouTube or Spotify to listen to. We were having fun, singing along with various songs (most were secular). Someone picked American Pie by Don McLean. You know, it is a catchy tune. It’s a song that I have heard probably thousands of times. It’s a song that I have sung along with more times than I can count. On this day, I sang along just as I had in the past. I will not forget this day that I sang along, though. When I sang one of the last lines of the chorus, “this’ll be the day that I die”, immediately I heard in my spirit “you will die today”. It caught me off guard. I silently apologized to the Lord. I started rebuking what I said and what I heard.
We continued with our day as normal. We visited with my dad. My husband, our youngest son, and I decided to go hiking near my dad’s house. We were walking, talking, and enjoying nature. It was a nice day to be out, getting some fresh air and exercise. A very dear friend called me. I was talking with her while hiking along unfamiliar terrain. My husband was a short distance ahead of me. Our youngest son was a short distance behind me. As my husband turned to warn us about a loose rock, I stepped onto it. It was a large rock. You would not suspect it to be unstable by its appearance. Well, it was. I was still talking on the phone when I stepped onto it.
That rock started moving. I tried to catch my balance. Next thing I know, I’m falling! As I was falling, I turned my head to the right. I cannot tell you why I did that. I do not recall thinking I should turn my head. On my way down, I hit my lower left jaw on another nearby rock. It was sticking up out of the ground. The rest of my body landed on yet a different rock, right next to the one I hit my face on. My phone went flying off into the foliage about 15 feet away from my landing spot. I knew I had fallen. I took a few minutes to do a mental check of my new state. I was awake, I knew where I was, and I knew what had happened. My vision was fine, not blurry, and the earth was not spinning.
I slowly got up off the rock. My husband was now right next to me to help me up. My youngest son was behind me and quiet. He is not a quiet child. I looked at my husband. I could tell by the look on his face that this might be serious. My lower left jaw and neck were sore. My right ankle hurt. He said, “You have a big goose egg on your face”. I reached up to feel it. Yes indeed, I had a nice bump going. I looked down at the rock I hit it on. Praise God that I turned my head when falling. The outcome could have been so much worse. I thanked the Lord for turning my head. We ended our hike. As we were walking back to my dad’s house, my throat started to hurt and felt like it was swelling on the left side. I told my husband to take me to the Emergency Room so I could be checked out. Thankfully, I just had the contusion on my face. I did not break any bones nor have a concussion.
So why did I share this event, you may be wondering? The Bible has a lot to say about the words we speak. Most people go through the day without giving any thought to the possible consequences our words carry. Proverbs 18:21, in the Amplified Classic version, says,
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]”.
By singing along with the song that day, I indulged in singing death over my own life. Can you imagine? I didn’t until I heard the warning. I can tell you from that day forward that I have been more cautious about just singing along with the songs I hear.
Our tongues seem so small; words may seem like they are not a big deal. I like what James 3 in the Message Bible has to say about this subject. Verses 3-5 tell us,
“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything-or destroy it!”.
A few more verses later, it also says that by our speech, we turn harmony into chaos. Now, like King David in Psalm 141:3, I ask the Lord to set a guard over my mouth and for Him to keep watch over the door of my lips so I do not speak without thinking first.
Marney Ewaldt
I am a follower of Jesus and love to worship our Father. I try to start my mornings out in the Word and growing my relationship with God. My husband, Mike, and I have been married for almost 24 years. We have five amazing sons, one adventurous daughter-in-law, and four energetic grandchildren. I graduated from Xplore Nations Bible School.