Friday, September 11, 2009

The Silence of God :)

Today I decided to take a walk and to get to know the creator of the universe! I had heard that being quiet would make the voice of Jesus more distinct. Did I not know what I was getting into! I can't believe it! It's so true :) Jesus is there in the silence. As I sat in the car I just decided to “Be Still and Know” There truly is a lot of power in being still. For once in our lives we have to unplug all the stuff, and just go outside to a park or somewhere quiet and just listen. As you listen all you may hear is the noise of silence. Sometimes it seems like that is all God's answer to us is, but let's not forget that Silence is an answer. If we will listen to the silence, we can be taught more precious lessons of the Love of God than ever! Silence!!! It's so quieting and sometimes doesn't seem like anything is going on. Yet in the quiet we are sitting really close to God. Friend, I have a question to ask you. Have you ever gone for a walk, and listened. Maybe you hear nothing, and a lot of times you will, but are you willing to listen to silence as God's answer? Is silence such a bad thing? Is it the end of the world when God is silent. Are you going to melt? Does it mean that you have been forsaken by God? Does God's silence in your life mean that He does not care about you anymore? Don't ever believe such a lie! The TRUTH is that Jesus says to the raging storms in our lives “Peace be still” Can He not say to us when we are stressed out and being tossed back and forth: “Peace be still”? Does He not have the power to do that. The Bible is clear that when our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. Beloved if our hearts condemn us not then do we have faith in God? Let's have faith in Jesus and God, even when it seems He is silent, because it is in those times that He is the closest. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever had someone give you a big hug when you are feeling terrible and sitting down and crying? Usually when someone gives us a hug in those moments it is done in silence, because they want us to know that they care about us. Sometimes being silent is the best way to say that you care about someone. See through the silence to the Love of Jesus Christ. He is there when we need Him always. Sometimes He does not always have words to say to us, but that does not mean that He is not speaking to us. In my own life I have tried and tried to come up with things God might say in such and such an incident, and I have always tried to jump the gun because I have not been willing to wait until He sees fit to give me an answer. In today's society where it is rush here and rush there, it can be so difficult to give Jesus a little bit of time, and it is also just as difficult to wait through periods of apparent silence. But let's not run from the silence. Let's say that God is choosing to be silent to you. Who is not to say that He through the silence is teaching you to trust in Him? Maybe God will have you wait through many periods of silence, but it is not because He does not love you, because He does, He wants to teach us to quiet ourselves and to trust Him no matter what the situation. All could be falling down around you, but it doesn't matter because when God says it's time to be quiet, then it is time to be quiet and just trust. But YOU HAVE TO BE QUIET! You can't be going on and on in your mind and taking up councils with your doubts and fears, you have to let those go, and continue to listen to what you perceive as absolute silence and don't ever give up, even if you never receive an audible, or thought answer. Listen, listen, listen, listen. Listening is a process, for a guy like me it is very difficult, but I am learning that listening is necessary to our Christian experience. Maybe God's plan for your training is to take you through apparent silence many many times, and that is ok. So you sit there and wait... and.... silence.... ok, so wait a second. Now wait a minute, ok, wait an hour, maybe a day, or a month or a year or 10 years or 30 years or 100 years or a lifetime! Sometimes it is all about waiting. The Psalmist says “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”