No matter who we are, or what or occupation is in life, we all walk through times of silence. Merriam Webster’s definition of the word silence is: absence of sound or noise, stillness in the silence of the night.
I can remember during my younger years, my mother would tell me to be quiet because of something that I had done. The old game, “who can be quiet the longest“ was one that many of us probably played on our siblings one time or another. During certain times of life, many of us must have times of quietness from the rest of the world. If you are anything like myself, than you understand the importance of the quiet time. Some of us go out to nature in order to have our silence. Some of us scuba dive for that place of silence, that place that enables us to close off all the noise of the world.
During those quiet times, we are able to refocus our minds and our thoughts. The world that we live in is so fast paced, we are constantly moving at rapid speeds, our minds are constantly filled with noise from the world that at times causes us to loose focus.
As yes we have times of personal silence that we give ourselves, there is another type of silence that each and every person goes through.
In the book of Job, we read that Job went through a period of silence. He went through a time where he received nothing, where he heard nothing and even where he felt nothing. [Job 23:8-12, 8.Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 9.On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:] (KJV)
We read the story of Job a man who has everything and one minute later he goes from having everything to having nothing. At that very moment Job is faced with the dilemma to either keep serving God or to curse Him and die.
Many of us end up with similar cases. Some of us loose loved ones. Some of us begin fighting diseases that take every ounce of life out of us. Some of us face financial set backs, but no matter what type of problem it is, we all face some situation that takes us through the time of silence.
See that time of silence is when everything is going perfect, God is speaking to us, we hear His voice clearly, we feel His presence and we can even see His hand working in our lives. And all of a sudden everything goes completely still. No longer do we hear His voice, no longer do we feel His presence, no longer can we see His hand working in our lives. And all of sudden we turn and panic because in our minds we think that He has left us. We can’t imagine our God leaving us to where we can’t even feel him.
There is one thing we must remember though, Hebrews 13:5 says this…He will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
See the times of silence are not given to destroy us, but rather to strengthen us. I once had a professor explain it like this. Many times we are always looking for that mountain top experience. Yes there is nothing wrong with the mountaintop. The mountaintop allows us to see to the next mountain. If you ever look at a mountain, you will notice that there is a timberline. Nothing past this line grows for reason of a lack of oxygen. We can’t live that long on the mountaintop because there are not enough resources on top to keep us alive. When you begin to look in the Valley you will find beauty, you will find lush vegetation, and beautiful streams flowing. In the valley you always find life because everything can grow in the valley.
The valleys are where we grow; they are where we find our strength. The valleys are where we find what we are made out of. When we are walking through those times of silence God begins to mold us into His masterpiece. He begins to impart the pieces of the puzzle that are needed for the increase of our ministries. I once heard one of my elders say that many times all we have to hold onto is a past word that God had given.
Many times all we have are past words that were spoken to us; many times all we have are dreams that were given or visions that were seen. The silence was never for destruction but for making stronger.
Even though you feel as if you are all alone remember what final words of
Job 23:10.But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
We can never despise the times of silence, because those are the times that we are made stronger. Those are the times that we find our true strength in Him. Those are the times that God entrusts us with the essentials that enable us to do more for His kingdom.
If we never faced times like those, our love for Him and our desire for Him would not be increased. Because we go through those moments, if we pass the test, we are only increased with power. This power that enables us to reach our world.
