I Am Silent; God Still Speaks!

October 17, 2024

I Am Silent; God Still Speaks!

Sometimes I simply do not have anything to say.  For those who know me well, that may be hard to believe.  However, there are times when I need to be quiet, times when I need to be silent, times when I need to listen without speaking at all.

Sometimes I need to be silent because it gives me a chance to listen in ways I cannot when I am trying to think of the next thing to say in a conversation. 

Sometimes I need to be quiet so I can pay attention to the “sounds of sheer silence” when only Jesus speaks.

Sometimes I need to be still because I feel ignored or invisible by someone about whom I care. 

Sometimes I need to stop talking because I feel vulnerable and weak in the presence of someone in authority.

Sometimes I need to retreat into a silent place because I feel misunderstood or unappreciated by a friend. 

Sometimes I need to detach because I feel hurt or sad or angry.

I have discovered that the moment when I stop speaking about my life is often the moment when Jesus starts speaking into my life.

I am reminded of a preacher who was exhausted, confused, and afraid.  After witnessing a great miracle by the Lord God, Elijah’s life is immediately threatened by a political leader in that country.  Elijah wonders why the Lord would do an incredible miracle and then allow a politician to destroy him.

Elijah runs himself into the ground.  He quickly finds himself at the point of total exhaustion and utter hopelessness before he collapses in the wilderness.  When the preacher wakes, he climbs a mountain where he crawls into a cave and cowers in fear. 

When Elijah has no more to say to the Lord, he finally gets silent.  It is interesting that when Elijah is most desperate for a Word from the Lord, he stops speaking long enough to hear the Lord speak. 

More often than I would like to admit, I have found myself so busy with life and work that I have not been able to hear the Lord speak into my life.  Too often, I have found myself filling the air with so many words that there was no room left for a Word from God.

What confuses Elijah and many of us is the Lord does not speak to Elijah in the ways most spiritual people in his day or in our day would expect.  The Lord does not speak through a violent earthquake.  The Lord does not speak through a wildfire in the mountains.  The Lord does not speak through hurricane-force winds.  Instead, the Lord speaks in the sound of sheer silence.  We hear what happens in the book of Kings.

In I Kings 19:11-13 we hear what happens; “He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Read the text carefully and you see that Elijah “heard” the Lord God speak in the sound of sheer silence.  The busyness of Elijah does not bring the Word of God.  The spiritual efforts of Elijah does not bring the Word of God.  The desperation of Elijah does not bring the Word of God.  The worship of Elijah does not bring the Word of God.  It is when Eliah is still and silent as well as open and seeking that the Word of God comes to him.

The message of the Lord to Elijah is also significant.  The Lord asks the preacher, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  Why are you cowering in fear when a little while ago your faith was so deep?  Why are you retreating when you could be advancing the cause and kingdom of God?  Why are you doubting the Lord God when the Lord is with you right here and right now? 

When I am silent because something has not gone my way or I have been overlooked or I have been misunderstood, the Lord will ask me, “What are you doing here, Doug?”  When I am silent because I am disappointed or discouraged or depressed, the Lord will ask me, “What are you doing here, Doug?”  When I am silent because I feel vulnerable or I am angry or I am sad, the Lord will ask me, “What are you doing here, Doug?”

When I am silent for whatever reason, God still speaks!

Jesus may speak in a strong wind, a raging wildfire, or a natural disaster of some kind.  Jesus may also speak when we tune out the world, quiet our voice, and finally get still enough to listen.  Sometimes Jesus will speak and the rocks will split and the floods will roar.  However, there are also times when Jesus will speak only in the sound of sheer silence.

The one thing of which I am certain is God still speaks.  I am also confident Jesus is eager to speak to you.  The Holy Spirit has an urgent message for you.  Our Heavenly Father has a life-changing word for you.  In Psalm 50:1 we hear; “From east to west, the powerful Lord God has been calling together everyone on earth.”

The Lord God is calling out to everyone!  That is you and me and the person who irritates you to no end.  That is the middle school teacher at his wits end, the assembly line worker who feels stuck, and the single mom who is so exhausted she cries herself to sleep every night.

Jesus has something He wants to say to you.  The question is whether you are prepared to hear what Jesus has to say. 

What if Jesus wants to say something to you in the sounds of sheer silence?  Is there time this week for you to be silent and still enough to listen for a Word from the Lord? 

What is one or two or three things you can do today to create a time and place where your heart, mind, and soul can be silent and still? 

It may be time to stop talking and complaining so you can listen for what the Lord has to say to you.  When the Word of God comes just for you, your heart will be filled with delight in the Lord.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug