January 4 - New Wineskins

January 4 – New Wineskins

“For I am full of words and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.  I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and reply.  I will show partiality to no one, nor will I flatter any man.”  (Job 32:18-21)

These words were spoken by Elihu, who was getting really angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 

But, don’t you just feel like that sometimes!

There is so much that you want to say that you feel as if you are a new wineskin – ready to burst open.  And if you don’t say something, you will find no relief.

I was talking to my sister the other day about how you can tell when someone is only barely listening to what you are saying because they are so desperate to begin speaking.  It’s not necessarily a good habit and one that I spent years trying to beat out of myself, because I discovered I missed good portions of a conversation since I was concentrating so hard on my response.

I also discovered that what I had to say wasn’t really as important as the actual conversation. 

One of my favorite television personalities was Johnny Carson.  The man was a hilarious comic, but as soon as he was sitting beside a guest, his personality took a back seat and he simply positioned the conversation to make them look good and to entertain the audience.  He asked questions to draw them out and allowed them to relax in his presence.  He required nothing for himself … he was completely confident.

Elihu had plenty to say … in fact, his words fill the better portion of Chapters 32-37 of Job.  He had listened and listened and then let Job and his three friends have it.  His words are beautiful and point Job and the other three towards God, but those aren’t the words that Job needed to hear.  Job needed to hear from God.

So, the next time I am bursting with things to say, it might be time for me to consider that my words aren’t nearly as important as I think they are.  Maybe God is trying to speak … and it might be that He is trying to speak through someone other than me.

New wineskins – bursting … kind of makes me chuckle a little bit and maybe the imagery will help me to remember to listen rather than speak.