Speaking And Understanding The Language

"And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?" Acts 2:8 NASB    

I'm fairly hopeless in learning other languages. I learned Spanish for 2 years in high school and can now only remember a simple greeting, or counting numbers. I have to use a commentary every time I come to understanding the Old Testament. I've spent several years on a dedicated run driving a truck over the road and hauling stuff to Texas and Mexico. I praised God every time because most Mexicans understood my English (or at least they will pretend to!). Then I switched to hauling to southern Florida and that was a whole new language, Cuban and Haitians, that's another story. 

In this Acts passage we hear of the first Pentecost where the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and start speaking in different languages so that people from many nations can understand them. (Luckily the Holy Spirit is better at languages than me!!)  

Living in the United States of America we are fortunate that we have one dominant language. It may sound a little different from New England and New York to South Carolina and Georgia. But I still think we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to speak to people. We may speak the same language but everyone has had different experiences. I have never went through a divorce but I had to comfort friends who have. It's then that I need the Holy Spirit to guide my speech. As a man I've never given birth to a child before but my wife and friends wives have, so to comfort them and speak to them about concerns they have, this would be where the Holy Spirit guides my understanding. We can never fully understand what someone else has gone through and what they experience. But if we are open to the Holy Spirit we can be guided to speak the 'language' each person needs to hear.   

Prayer:  

Lord, I often make mistakes and I am lost for words. Help me to be open to your Spirit so that I can speak other people's 'language'. Amen.