A Word About Vocabulary

I got to wondering the other day… how many words I actually know?

Not the ones in dictionaries. Not the hundreds of thousands that scholars say belong to the English language. I mean the words that live in me. The ones I reach for when something needs to be said. The ones that show up when life presses in a little closer than usual.

I speak English, of course. And from what I understand, English has more words than just about any language on earth. A massive collection. A deep well. I still remember having vocabulary tests when I was in fifth grade. My teacher, Miss Graham said the more words we had available for us to use, the better we would be able to express ourselves.

And yet… Have you ever noticed how often, with all those words available, there are occasions and seasons when you still can’t find the one you need? You know what you feel. You know what you mean. But the word you’re searching for stays just out of reach. It’s there… somewhere. But somehow, it’s not where you are.

I’ve had a lot of moments like that. Conversations I wish I could redo. Or prayers that start strong and then sort of trail off into silence. Times when what was going on inside of me was deeper than any paragraph of vocabulary words I could manage to organize. I have come to appreciate the reality that that dilemma is not unique to me. We all have seasons when the vocabulary of life demands more words than we feel are available to us.

The Bible, thankfully, points us toward Someone, who steps into that very space.“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:1. Not just a word to be spoken. An eternal Word, the all-sufficient Christ, The Living Word. When I find myself searching for the right words… Christ the Living Word searches for me.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
John 1:14

He doesn’t wait for me to get my sentences right. He doesn’t require a carefully constructed prayer with eloquent vocabulary. He comes near, knowing full well there are moments when I would have no words at all. And that’s where something even more amazing transpires.

Paul writes in Romans 8:26, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Too deep for words, which means there are times and places in your life, and mine, when vocabulary words simply cannot carry the weight of what is happening inside of us. And God knows that. On those days, and in those seasons when we run out of words? The Word comes looking for us. And the Spirit of God speaks for us in ways that no vast vocabulary of our own could ever express.

So, on days when you can’t find the words, be encouraged. If your prayers feel unfinished, or your silence seems to say more than your sentences ever could? You are not unheard. The Word Become Flesh is the only vocabulary Word you need to remember. The Word who came to you has sent His Spirit to speak for you. He is already saying what needs to be said. No vocabulary tests in the Kingdom of God.