Encounter with Silence

“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,

    and discerning if they hold their tongues”. Proverbs 17:28

Have you ever sat down to write, speak, pray or reflect a message about experiences to make sense in life? Then a little voice inside your head say’s, “You can’t do this, you’ll never find the right words.” Is this a familiar voice? Especially when an unexpected trauma or emotional upheaval occurs- whether it’s the death of a loved one, the sudden loss of employment and stability, or grave physical harm. Done that did that, right? Who’s to say whose voice it is? It may be the devil or one of his own, trying to defeat any small good that might come from the voice of silence.

Perhaps it’s a voice from the past, maybe a parent, teacher, or coach long ago who once asked, “Can’t you do anything right?” Maybe it’s the voice, of in my case, of a white friend at the orphanage who, almost fifty years ago on a hot summer day as we sat in sand box, playing, waiting for our parents to come get us out of there, said some miserable words “You’re the dumbest person in the whole world you, blank, you are here for life! And deep inside was I afraid he was right? Perhaps, in some way, do we all hear those voices at once, rallying against us, pushing us for defeat? Who’s to say?

Do you have an inherent desire to make sense of it all.? Or understand why it happened, and what to do next? Simply ruminating about the experience over and over again can actually negatively impact one’s health. But I often thought- rather, deeply engaging with the reflections in a way that truly evaluates the experience over a few consecutive days proved for me the best way to process, heal with the help of a sense, of derived meaning from a collaborator? One that articulate that obvious and elusive, simple and complex, childlike and mysterious Word. The Word that is God, the Word that became flesh, the Word that is Wisdom. The Word we call Jesus! Our struggle to find words to describe Him is at the same time a struggle to find Him, “you suppose”? Power is Jesus Himself Our struggles are not with words but with accepting Him.

Those times when I experience a reflective crisis with certainty in words; which were precipitated by an encounter with Silent prayers. What came home to me very powerfully during those times was that silence really does say more than words. God speaks to us in the silence of the heart. Spoken or sung, words usually interfere with God’s will as much as they help in seeing it done.

For someone like me, with a “vendor of words,” of happy, this was a discouraging experience when a new sense of joyful song was on the loose in my mind during a cross road of asking for God to forgive my sins and I actually asked the Lord to come into my life. That day I knew what was missing; it was having a relationship with God. At The time I felt alone and it was disheartening to look at the blank bands between the songs I was envisioning on the mental LP playing in my heart; wondering if perhaps they might contain more meaning than the grooves that contained the musical troublesome lyrics I had labored over for so many months and years! What are we to do? What is God’s intention for this sinful yours truly?

 Something blank had finally dawned on me: “Be silent, for that is the Absolute”. Thankfully, the Lord didn’t leave me desolate in this crisis. He used the experience to give me a whole new appreciation both for words as well as His word. I was compelled to do my best to choose words with more care rather than to give up on them altogether. My question, Is the bottom line in my book an application of servant leadership? Was I to emulate the examples of the world? Or in the mist of my battle with sin shouldn’t the example be Jesus, who came as a servant?

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    keep watch over the door of my lips”! Psalm 141:3

In contrast to the sullen word of Ecclesiastes 12:12, “of making many books there is no end,” the words of John 21:25 came to life: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that world be written.” It was not until I despaired of using words that, oddly enough, I felt ready to try to carve a book full of thought. Before, my conceited self would have wanted to write a masterpiece or something others might call my imaginary encounter with silence. Now I am ready to write to an engaged mindset that is as useful for propping up an uneven table leg as it is for being understood.

“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!” Job 19-23 

Ecclesiastes is saying, thisis very true today. There are hundreds of thousands of books written just on the Bible subjects. There would be literally millions on all subjects. Even these Bible studies will add to that number. 

In the flesh, mankind is constantly trying to learn new things in books. All gaining of knowledge takes much work. The continuous study of books becomes wearisome, as we grow older.

But, “clumsy words” written on any other subject other than God’s revealed wisdom will only proliferate the uselessness of man’s thinking.

Without hesitation, to tap into God’s wisdom, we must diligently study God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15), reflecton the Word, pray for insight, strive for it with all our hearts, and walk in the Spirit. God desires to give His wisdom to His children. Are we willing to be led by that wisdom? the Bible says that life is meant to be enjoyed (John 10:10) and imparts that each person is valuable and meaningful to serve (Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 5:22) which the Self persists after death (John 14:3).

Why we should want to serve God is a more difficult question. What is your reason for serving God? Different people are motivated by diverse things. However, the Bible does make clear that, when a person is in a real relationship with God, he will serve God. We should want to serve God because we know Him; an inherent part of knowing Him is a desire to serve Him; it’s more than just serving others; it’s loving them: “Serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13)Now that’s an Encounter with Silence!

God Bless You and This Ministry!