The Sweetest Revelation

Honey - so sweet but healthy too?!

I've been studying the bible and what it has to say about using our voice. I've studied verses that talk about standing up for others, speaking the truth, praising, and singing. Many of the verses talk about the types of words we should use. One of the most powerful verses I have found is:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." 

-Proverbs 18:21 KJV

That's a verse for another time though. The verse I want to talk about right now is a verse that had me in awe and actually helped inspire the name of my blog. 

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

-Proverbs 16:24  KJV

Reading the verse out right seems very basic. Pleasant words or kind words are sweet. Who doesn't love to get a compliment or to be told they're doing a great job, right? Encouraging words help build the self esteem of others. But what if I told you the verse holds much more detail than what the words say at surface level?

While I was studying this verse I found myself somewhat stuck. It felt too one-dimensional for what I was feeling. So I began to pray. During my prayer time I was led to do some research on honey. I'm going to give a little bit of background on how honey is made for those of you who may not know (feel free to do some more research after this). 

In a nut shell, bees fly out, gather nectar from flowers, and bring the nectar back to the hive. From there they regurgitate or "throw-up" the nectar. They repeat this process with other bees to break down the complex sugars and remove the excess water. Once they have repeated this process enough, they will be left with a thick, sticky, sweet product known as honey.

Now that you know that little bit of information, I'm going to relate it back to us as people living life. We live each day and have our own personal experiences. We're gathering thoughts, feelings, and life experience and we are storing all of that inside of ourselves. What do we do as soon as we get with our people? Or our "hive," if you will? We talk about our day and what happened. Especially when it's something we're really excited about or if it's something that wasn't so great. By regurgitating our words with those we are closest to, we process those thoughts, feelings, and experiences and sift through all the stuff; the things that don’t matter or the things we need to let go of. We’re eliminating the water content of our experiences to find wisdom and glean knowledge. Our honey is wisdom.

So the first part of the verse talks about it being sweet to the soul. Our wisdom comes from our life experiences. When we get the opportunity to share our "honey" with someone else, we usually offer words of encouragement because maybe we've been there, or maybe know someone else who has. The encouragement we offer our fellow people feeds their soul and speaks life into them. This is such a sweet blessing for the one receiving it, but also the one giving it. 

I'm so glad you've stuck with me this far. This part is probably the coolest part. At this point I was on a roll with what God was feeding me. 

The verse breaks into two parts - the spiritual part of your body and the physical part of your body. The honey for the soul is the words we speak to others and ourselves. The second part of the verse states it is also "health to the bones." This part refers to our physical body. So, of course, I had to do research on all the physical health benefits of actually eating or using honey. During that search, God prompted me to also do a search on the health benefits of positive thinking and kind words. 

Here's a list of a few health benefits I found:

• Improves Self Esteem

• Provides Connection

• Encourages & Motivates

• Reduce Stress & Anxiety

🍯 Increase Lifespan

🍯 Lower Depression

🍯 Better Cardiovascular Health

🍯 Stronger Immune System

🍯 Lower levels of Distress & Pain/Wound Healing

This whole list showcases the benefits to your body when you hear or speak kind words or think positively. The items on that list that have a honey pot next to them are benefits to not only your soul but also your physical body when you consume or use honey. How cool is that? Just as honey has healing properties, so can our thoughts and words. 

When we have healthy relationships with those around us, we are more likely to feel supported mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. When those things are healthy, our physical being is more likely to be healthy as well.

God is intentional with everything He does and how He's created everything to work together. This verse is just a small example of how intentional He is and how intricately He has woven detail into our lives. Each of us has a purpose and a call to impact lives. Each of you has honey to share with the world.

I want to leave you with these thoughts to reflect on:

• If God put that much detail into a seemingly simple verse, what has he intentionally created within you?

• What honey do you have to offer the world?

• Who do you have in your hive? 

  
  

Maybe you don't feel like you have a hive. If that's the case, this just might be the blog for you. Jesus wants nothing more than to build a close and intimate relationship with you and to put others in your life who want to build you up.

I pray these words impact your life in a beautiful way and help you see the beautiful details within your day-to-day life.God is always there and He's always working, even when you don't feel it.

If this message resonated with you, share it with someone close to you.

If you feel led, I would love for you to leave me a comment telling me what spoke to you most!