Are you uncomfrotable with Silence?
Are you uncomfortable with silence? Are you guilty of talking too much and listening too little? Did your parents ever say, “Sssh” to you to get you to quiet down? Do you tend to use noise and distraction to deliberately avoid the voice of God? The Old Testament book of Job indicates that God had to say, “Sssh” to the old patriarch and his friends. It appears from Job 13:1-5 and 40:1-5 that Job and his friends just could not stop giving their opinions about one of life’s mysteries – Why do people suffer?
God did not exactly say “Sssh” to the jabbering of Job and his pals, but He did get their attention with a whirlwind. Earlier in the book, Job had been upset about his friends and told them to stop talking…so He could start talking. But in the end, even Job had to stop talking when confronted by God Himself. Job had to shut his mouth so he could listen to God.
The benefits of the discipline of silence are many – one is that it helps us to hear God. The prophet Elijah learned this lesson the hard way, one even more dramatic than Job’s. God got Elijah’s attention the same way he got Job’s, with a whirlwind. But he followed it up with an earthquake and then fire. Elijah, a man who was the voice of God to the people of Israel, was stunned by the noise. But what caught his attention (and his ear) was what came in the silence that followed – the Lord’s gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12).
What can we learn from the experiences of Job and Elijah? First, that God cared enough to make an appearance to them and help them quiet down. Second, we need to stop our habit of talking (and our noisy lifestyles) and start listening. We need to cultivate a habit (or discipline) of silence to hear the voice of God.
Why do you think God gave us two ears and one mouth? Is it possibly to listen twice as much as we talk? William Penn, the father of Pennsylvania, told his children, “True silence is rest for the mind. It is to the spirit what sleep is to the body…nourishment and renewal. It is a great virtue – it covers folly, keeps secrets, avoids disputes, helps us from saying hurtful things to others, and prevents sin.”
Grow devotionally. Silence can be godly and healthy. Proverbs 10:19 exhorts us “That when words are many, sin is not absent. But he who holds his (or her) tongue is wise.”
Love is a verb,
Mike O
