The Discipline of Silence!
Matt 27: 12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
Takes great strength of heart to be quiet and trust the Lord, when you are being falsely accused. If we can guard our heart, and say nothing, even when people are raging, we see the power of God to deliver, as long as we do not bow to their pressure. When you have spoken the Word of God over your circumstance, the power of God is always working to deliver you …out of the hand of man, all men, no matter what people try to get you to agree to. Refuse to speak, when anything you say, will obviously be twisted and used against you.
Yet, there is a time to speak too…
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?” “Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”
Today in the Word, July 13, 1993.
What would you do here, when speaking out would probably cost you your very life?
Only you and the Holy Spirit can make that decision…
It had been a rather stormy board meeting and some very harsh things had been said. One man–always highly respected and unusually wise in his judgments–had said nothing throughout the proceedings. Suddenly one of the leaders in the argument turned to him: “You have not said a word. I am sure we would all like to hear your opinion about this matter.” “I have discovered,” replied the quiet one, “that there are many times when silence is an opinion.”
Bits & Pieces, September, 1989
God is love, and sometimes the most loving thing He does, is not speak.
Why? Because He is also holy, and sometimes, when someone is far from Him, doing things clearly contrary to His nature and His Word, if He were to speak, the only thing He could speak, would be a word of judgement. Rather than judge, (for with His judgements, come the execution of those judgements), He remains silent for a time:
God is love, and Jesus mission remains the same, to seek and save the lost, not condemn them…
Let’s Pray:
‘Father, set a watch upon my lips before my enemies. Give me strength to fully trust you, and to never betray you with my words, in your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen!