Do we want an answer?

I am on the Elizabeth Elliot devotional email list, and received this in my devotional this morning. I was convicted about how quickly I will "vent" my feelings about things, people, and situations without really having a purpose or hoping it will be something profitable in the end (1 Corinthian 10:23). God, forgive me for the way I so quickly let putrid and destructive words flow from my heart and out of my mouth to contaminate others. Please grant me grace and strength to always go first to Your word and to Your threshhold on my knees in prayer.

Do You Want an Answer? By Elizabeth Elliot

"This is the question we need to ask ourselves when we are seeking 'solutions' to our problems. Often we want only an audience. We want the chance to air grievances, to present our excuses, to make an explanation for our behavior, rather than a cure. More often than not the clearest and most direct answer can be found in the Word, but it must be sought honestly.

'The way of the Lord gives refuge to the honest man, but dismays those who do evil' (Prv. 10:29 NEB).

"We can approach God's word with a will to obey whatever it says to us about our present situation, or we can avoid it and say to anyone who would try to point us to it, "Don't throw the Book at me." The latter is an evasion, which supports our suspicion that our problems are, in fact, insoluble. The honest (i.e., humble) heart will indeed find the Lord's way to be a refuge."