With
the constant noise and activity in the world around us, we grow uncomfortable
with silence. Many people even say that it is hard to bear God’s silences. I
know how they feel. I used to get so discouraged when I took time to sit
quietly at Jesus’ feet, and He did not say anything to me.
I
felt silly sitting there with no productive activity between us. At times, I
even thought that He was hiding His face and turning His ear away from me
(Psalm 102:1-7). Doubts plagued me, and I felt alone and helpless (Hebrews
13:5).
When
I was confused about what to do about some situation in my life, I felt like
God did not care or love me anymore. Sometimes, I just gave up and went to read
a book, watch a movie, play a word game, or put on praise music while I cleaned
the house. Eventually, I did a searching inventory of my life.
I
thought that maybe some possibilities for His silence may be that I was not
really listening (1 Kings 19:11-12), or that I harbored in my heart some
selfish motives (James 4:3; Psalm 66:18), or maybe I was walking in
disobedience (Galatians 6:7) or habitual sin (1 John 3:21-22) or ingratitude (1
John 5:14-15) or a broken relationship with someone (1 Peter 3:1-6) or
unforgiveness towards someone.
If
we are not guilty of any of these deviations of Godly behavior, however, the
silence is simply evidence that God already heard our petitions and His answer
is already on the way (Matthew 7:11; Daniel 10:12).
The
longer I walk with God, the more I realize that in the silence, God is bringing
us into a more intimate relationship with Himself. He finds pleasure in hanging
out with His children without any demand for talking. We are at ease with each
other and just happy to be together.
God
is so comfortable in our presence that He does not feel the need to converse
with us all the time. He simply enjoys our companionable silence. We take the
time to listen when He does speak to us, to meditate on His Word and to praise
Him for what He already told us, did for us, and provided for us.
When
we pray in Jesus’ name, we pray according to the divinity of Christ within us,
summoning all of His power and authority behind our prayers (Matthew 18:20).
Until then, we can enjoy the companionable silence God offers to us each moment
of the day, without any expectations or demands upon Him.
Prayer:
Father
God, it is in the silent times that we can be still and know Your fullness as
our God (Psalm 46:10). To be still is to surrender our will, our desires, our
goals and our dreams for our life to Your plans and purposes for us in Your
Kingdom (Ephesians 2:10). We stop trusting in our self or anyone else but You. With
patience, we will see answers to our prayers in Your perfect timing and way
(Hebrews 10:36).
As
we do this, we have no greater joy than to recognize, admit and proclaim to the
world that You are our God, the great King over all the earth. We remain silent
before You now, because the great Day of the Lord is at hand (Zephaniah
1:7). Since this is true, remind us to
be careful to pray according to Your will, and not to pray according to our
will.
Thought
for the Day:
We
mature to a place where we soon crave these silent times of comfort with God;
as we center on His acceptance of us, and joy in us, our delight is in His
laws, and in His Word we meditate all day and night long.
-
Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 1:2
