Words are everywhere; we seem to have lost the weight of them. They float across screens ubiquitously. Text saturates our communication in emails and phone messages: when was the last time I called someone? And there are so many words I wish I didn't see: junk emails telling me I need new clothes for summer, spam texts making me wonder if I did indeed order a package that can't be delivered, clickbait playing "gotcha" on even the most reputable websites, and billboards on my drive home letting me know how much money I won't be winning in the next lottery round.  

It's overload.

It's hard to imagine the time not so long ago when many of us were left wanting more text input. As a kid I would beg my parents to take me to the local library: I'd read through books quickly and want to refill the void of words as soon as possible. Now I can fill every waking moment scrolling and reading: responding like a Pavlovian dog to the dings and alerts from the phone in my pocket to consume words at an untenable pace. 

What am I seeking? I think it's transformation. 

I have been transformed by words before I want it to happen again. Books have brought me to tears as I've experienced heartache and grief that won't ever mirror my own. Articles of women struggling with parenthood here and abroad have brought me both camaraderie in isolation and a global perspective on motherhood. The spoken words of experts and psychologists in podcasts as I wash the dishes have shaped my perspective on work/life balance and how to be a leader working for good.

I'm taking all these words in and I'm learning because they can be so, so good; but then my very being begins to suffocate in the sheer volume of it all and I can't breathe and I can't be transformed and is this my new normal state of existence?

Where is my transformation? 

I have to cut through the fog and find the words that matter. In today's scriptures, Psalm 34 reminds us that God is close to the brokenhearted: God is with us as we find the words that make a difference. Matthew 4:4 tells us that we don't live on bread alone, "but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." What makes life worth living is not merely sustaining our physical bodies. The words I am looking for – the transformation – come from the mouth of God. 

Why is it so hard for me to find these words when they are right in front of me?

I open my Bible and I read John 7: It wasn't just what Jesus did but also the words he spoke that transformed those in his sphere. Jesus used his words to claim his identity as sent by God and being from God, even in the midst of peril. My own identity is found in the words from the mouth of God.

Over two-thousand years later, we still hear Jesus' words, we read them, we pray with them, we live by them, and we are transformed by them. I think back to the time in middle school when I was struggling and unsure where to turn, and I flipped open my Bible to read the scripture in front of me. Something in those words of God and the work of the Holy Spirit within me completely changed how I saw the situation. In such a profound way, the words of scripture – the Word of God – made me different from then on out: at peace in the midst of my difficulty. I was transformed in a way that I cannot fully explain, yet I come back to this place time and time again, where the fog dissipates and I can breathe in God's word. 

When have the words of God filled you and changed you and made you see the world in a whole new way?

What text can you filter out to make room for the Living Word found in Jesus?