When Silence Isn't Golden

“Please make sure all cells phones are turned off or are silenced. Silence is golden.”

In my experience of attending movie theaters, I’ve seen this message flash across the screen before the start of the feature presentation on many occasions. In certain places and environments, we are expected to know and recognize when it is time to be quiet.

But what about during those quiet times in our spiritual walk? Is silence golden then? To myself and maybe you as well, we are quick to say no. It’s a scary place to be not hearing the Holy Spirit in a way you are familiar with.

It seems as if every summer I would go through a silent phase in my spiritual walk. All throughout the year, I would talk to God and would hear His voice audibly in my prayer time, then the summer would hit and nothing. Silence. Panic would set in and I would begin to question and re-evaluate what I was and wasn’t doing that would perhaps cause the Holy Spirit to not speak to me in a way that I was familiar with. Notice I wrote “in a way that I was familiar with.”

Could it be that God wanted to speak to me in a different way? I went through multiple years of this quiet process before realizing that this is what God was doing in my life. Looking back now, I recognize that when those seasons of quiet time were over, God spoke again; but this time, it was different. Instead of hearing a small voice, I would notice that His thoughts would be inserted into my thoughts (Mathew 10:19, Daniel 2:29) or He would just speak directly to my spirit, or he would use a man or woman of God to deliver the message. And the word of God would read much clearer than before.

The quiet time was the preparation time. Now, please don’t mistake me, just because we find ourselves in a season where we don’t hear God, this does not excuse us from staying in constant communication with Him. Unless the Holy Spirit says otherwise, continue attending your church, continue your personal bible study, and continue praying. His ears are open to His people (Psalm 34:15,1 Peter 3:12). Believe it or not, you are still receiving guidance, and direction has already been made for you (Psalm 37:23, Psalm 119:1-5, Psalm 23:3).

Last year was significant for me while in my season of silence. I continued my same routine, and my panic had decreased significantly after the Lord revealed what was really going on in my relationship with Him. No, I didn’t grieve the Holy Spirit; He wanted to do a new thing in me. He wanted to talk to me differently. He wanted me to see differently than the year before. He was maturing me in Him.

Let’s look at it like this: depending on the class, in order to be taught the next concept, you have to be tested first on what you know and what you’ve retained. During the test, there is silence, so that everyone has the opportunity to focus and remember what they have been taught. And before the test, it is highly recommended that you study. Going back to your notes (or in our case, the basics of our salvation), makes you feel more comfortable and confident about passing the test when its time.

It’s the same concept here. While in your silent time, go back to the basics of your spiritual walk. Review, make sure you are up to speed with everything and wait on God to reveal what to do next. It may be by way of you taking a class, or increasing your participation in ministry.

Remember: Silence is golden; it is an indicator that growth is on the way.

2 Peter 1:3-8 (NLT)

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

#silence #maturity #listening #spiritualwalk