In The Silence
Psalm 19 begins with the silent voice of the heavens. “Day after day they continue to speak, night after night they make Him known. They speak without a word being said, their voice is never heard”. Do you ever feel that way? That no matter what you pray, it is just silence? There is a grand purpose for this silence and it is always to draw us closer, bring us to a deeper level of trust and knowing than ever before….if we are willing to let silence do its work.
In one of the hardest seasons of my life, it seemed The Lord placed even higher demands on me to continue on “in Him” for other people. He gave me words and prayers…..for others, yet all the while, He seemed silent towards me. This silence went on for a full year. But I clearly remember the day He broke it. As I walked, I brought that to Him; “God why are you speaking to me for others, but not to my own needs”? And then came the question “Will you follow Me in the silence? Will you follow Me just because you know Me”? This season of silence will often cause us to battle thoughts of “Is God mad at me? Am I in sin? Does He not care?” But the good God that He is, He will continually remind us sometimes just through the heavens that He is near.
Being content to walk in the silence of God is a sign of spiritually maturing. We do not continually need a word “go here or go there, do this or do that, pray this or that”. Walking in the silence of Yahweh means we must stay very close to Him to know where He is going and what He is doing. When we have needs yet do not demand immediate answers, when we are content to just walk with Him while we wait, is a sign of growing trust in His ways and His timing. There is a tremendous grace in and for silence, yet few recognize it. Silence is a sign of intimacy with Him.
Luke 11:6 “And when He heard Lazarus was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was”. Jesus knew Lazarus, His dear friend would die, but chose to stay where He was instead of rushing in to heal him, He stayed silent the His friend’s greatest time of need… Yet, He had a plan. And that plan was a greater glory to be revealed through Lazarus, a greater revelation of the power and nature of Yahweh in the silence, in the waiting. There was a greater testimony and revelation of who Christ is in that time of silence.
Perhaps the same is true for us, perhaps in the silence God is developing a trust and a deeper revelation of Himself that we may know Him more. Because of the silence of waiting, Lazarus and all that witnessed his “coming out” knew Jesus as the resurrection life! It was no longer teaching, it was reality. This passage from Psalm 62:5 is a reminder that silence is part of our journey to the Heart of the Father. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is in Him”. When we pray and expect favorable answers now, we may be sabotaging our own outcome, our own growth track with our unwillingness to walk in silent contentment with Yahweh. Maybe the silence is the preparation for greater things to come! #MyGodisYahweh