"SPEAK!" Life, Hope, Truth, Love, Faith...
“Lights are on in the distant windows, I wonder what they must see.”
Those opening words of the poem are about us observing — pausing long enough to consider the hearts of the people around us and wonder what they’re struggling with behind that lit window — behind that forced smile. What are the hidden cares weighing on their heart? The question the poem puts to us is simple and searching: how will we respond? Will we be a blessing or a burden to them?
The poem doesn’t soften it:
Will we speak life, or will we destroy?
Are we a friend, or do we accuse?
Will they see Jesus, or just more abuse?
Every person you meet is carrying something you can’t see. And every word you speak to them lands on that hidden struggle — it either helps or it hurts. Jesus didn’t leave this ambiguous:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).
There is no neutral.
Here’s what I’ve come to understand: Jesus is more than a Savior who rescues us from death. He is the Life we speak into the struggles of others. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Those weren’t just words He said — they are words He is. And when we belong to Him, His words, His life start coming out of our mouths and into the battles other people are fighting.
I watched this happen in my own family. On Easter 2016, my daughter Kristen tweeted Jesus’ question from John 11 — “I am the resurrection and the life … Do you believe this?” — to her best friend. She wasn’t preaching a sermon. She was sharing her faith with someone she loved. She considered her friend’s heart, and she spoke life into it — sharing His light. She was growing in intimacy with Jesus and sharing it with her friend, one text message at a time. That is what speaking life looks like. It begins with noticing.
The poem goes on:
Reach out and touch them with the love that He gave.
We aren’t meant to hide it, but to give it away.
Will we be hope in the midst of despair,
Or will we be pain as we pass without care?
A friend of mine is living this right now. Not preaching sermons — just her day-to-day interactions with several elderly neighbors. As she and her fiancé walk their dogs through the neighborhood, they regularly encounter elderly neighbors going about their lives, and they’ve made it their opportunity to share in those lives and step into the gap left behind as these neighbors have lost their spouses. These aren’t big, grand gestures. They’re just loving others with the love of Christ, shining His light into the hearts of those who are missing someone who was their partner for decades. As they walk down the street and see the lights on in the distant windows, they do so with Christ’s love in their hearts and His words in their mouths. They speak life into the struggle of their neighbors.
“As we pass without care” — that line stops me cold. Because the opposite of speaking life isn’t always speaking death. Sometimes it’s just passing by. Not pondering. Not wondering what’s behind the distant window. Just moving on. But we weren’t given His life so we could keep it to ourselves. “Let us speak life to them — with our words, we can bless.”
So here’s what I’m asking you to do this week: ponder someone. Pick one person whose distant window you’ve been passing without care, and wonder — really wonder — what their heart is struggling with. Then speak life into it. Not a lecture. Not a fix. Just the love He gave you, given away. A word of hope. A reminder that they are seen. An invitation into intimacy with the One who sees them fully.
You don’t need a platform to change a life. You need an attentive heart and a willing tongue. “His light will shine thru the darkest night” — and He has chosen to shine it through you.
A moment to reflect:
- Whose struggle is God bringing to your mind right now — who have you been passing by without considering how you can help?
- It’s not necessarily the words we speak but the moments we give to others. Those moments show they are a priority in our lives. Time is precious — and sharing it demonstrates value.
- When you consider what their heart might be carrying, how does that change what you want to say to them?
- What is one life-giving thing you could speak into their struggle this week?
A prayer to pray:
Jesus, You are the Life. Slow me down enough to ponder the hearts around me — to wonder what they are struggling with the way You do. Fill my mouth with Your words, and make me a helper of their struggle, never a hurter of it. Let me share Your light and call others out of darkness into intimacy with You. Let them see You, not me. Amen.
SPEAK LIFE
(Inspired by Tania Snoep)
Lights are on in the distant windows
I wonder what they must see
God sent his Son to shine His light
To show His love to humanity
His light will shine thru the darkest night
And pierce the heart of those in need
His grace has touched each hurting soul
His word has planted an eternal seed
Lights are on in the distant windows
I wonder what they must feel…
Do they feel sorrow
or do they feel joy
Will we speak life
or will we destroy
Are we a friend
or do we accuse
Will they see Jesus
or just more abuse
Reach out and touch them
with the love that He gave
We aren’t meant to hide it
but to give it away
Will we be hope
in the midst of despair
Or will we be pain
as we pass without care
His children must love
with word and with deed
We are His hands
to help with their need
Let us love our neighbor
more than our own flesh
Let us speak life to them
with our words, we can bless
