“…a time to be silent…”
Ecclesiastes 3:7
Few things have hurt me more in my lifetime than silence from someone I care for deeply. The choice to cease communication, not just because of time passing and paths parting, but a choice to firmly not respond or ignore communication efforts. Truth is, I know how much effort it takes to close someone out because I have done it before…back in the days before I invited God into my life. Sometimes out of my own cowardice at handling a situation. But there have also been other times God led me into a spiritual “silence” to “tune out” and “tune into Him.” What happens in silence….it’s interesting…
Silence, when hoping or waiting on something or someone can feel deafening. Painful even. I find my most desperate prayers come from the unknown that is happening in a silence. I cling to God more than ever while I am waiting. I pray more. I listen more. Usually in that silence, a truth distills out like I never expected. Even in silence, truth reigns.
However hard it may be, purpose can be found in silence. Maybe tensions needed to settle for calm decisions to be made. Maybe God needs that silence to transform a heart. Maybe in silence love is proven by those who wait……or disproven, by those who do not. Maybe in silence instead of turning to a person for answers, we turn to God for an answer that a person could have never provided. Maybe even an answer that couldn’t be received from a person because it was too difficult of a burden for them to bear.
Silence can give space for the Spirit to move… in the stillness we know God’s presence.
“Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10
Jesus Himself was often known to retreat alone to pray and spend time with God (Ex: Luke 4:42; 5:16; Matthew 14:13, 14:23; Mark 1:35). Sometimes He may have talked to God, other times He may have been silent. We can’t know for sure, but there was definitely a silence from others when He retreated.
We adopted a cat for my son’s birthday over a year ago and I joke that he can do no wrong. Everything he does is deemed cute. He can swat at you, present you with a dead bug, or just lay there and he is adored. We like to pretend we know what he is thinking and make up our own voice for him with responses. But the truth is, the reason he stays in such good standing is that he doesn’t speak. He may give a quick scratch if approached wrong, but that is forgotten. There are no lingering words or expectation over words. Most interactions you are just “still” with him. Hmm…
In Genesis 11, The Tower of Babel is described and at that time:
“…the whole world had one language and a common speech.” Genesis 11:1
But as they began to build a tower to Heaven to make a new name for themselves, God was not pleased with what they were doing and changed their languages and scattered them. Ultimately they were silenced and asked to begin again with a deeper dependence on God.
I wonder how many times when a deep silence occurs that God is enabling us to start over with a deeper dependence on him with a new language and a new understanding to better serve Him?
Since July 2023, I have been taking a journey that I am so grateful you joined me on. Whether you have been walking with me before writing this devotion, as I began, or later on, I am so grateful because I was nervous to do it. I suppose I had been in a period of “silence” for a bit as God did some transformative work in me, and then I shifted into a period where I felt Him lead me to speak more to share all He had been doing and teaching me. When you feel so imperfect it can be hard to put your face on a message for God, but I had to start believing in myself more and just follow through. Writing a weekly devotion kind of happened without much planning. I committed to it and had no end date in mind, I just wanted to keep showing up each week until I felt God speak to me otherwise. Last weekend, as I typed “Message,” I received my own and it has been affirmed in various ways throughout the week. It is time for my silence. So, today is my last Surrender Sunday devotion. I hope the experiences I have shared have lifted you, encouraged you to live your truth, and spoken to you in some way. You were worth waking up for every Sunday morning and your reading helped transform me and grow my faith more than you may realize. Sharing the special moments of my life each week is vulnerable and I trust God will use all of this time and these words we all spent together for His good.
Thank you Father for this privilege, these readers, your guidance and truth. Please lead us into the unknown future. Trusting you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Silence
Show me the next step I should take.