Thursday, October 15, 2009

Waiting in Silence

Waiting? humm, does anyone really enjoy waiting? I sure don't I know that I struggle not only with patience but also just assurance that the answer will reveal itself as well? I usually don't like posting what someone else says about issues but Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite devotional guys. He says:
When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was —John 11:6
Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead" (see Matthew 7:9 ). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35 ).
A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.

searching, longing, clawing at your word,
the song in my heart screaming out without an audience,
my voice echoing in the dark that encompasses me,
this light, the marvelous light of your word in me.
Let it shine through the confusion of my mind.

Let your mercy rain down,
The gentle mist of your love fall down the face of who I am
My heart and soul drenched in who you are
My body consumed not by the fear of the unknown,
But rather held up by your strong arms.

Covered by the wings of your salvation
The refuge I run to in times of trouble
Your grace astounds my heart,
What am I, that you are mindful of me  O God?

You trust me with your silence O God!
your gentle whisper I lie in wait for.

1 comment:

Mandy Wakefield said...

Sometimes we need to play the quiet game! I love your honesty and vulnerability. Your poetry is such a gift. Thank you for sharing your heart with me! The Lord WILL hear when you call and make his face shine upon you.

Psalm 4
1 Answer me when I call to you,O my righteous God.Give me relief from my distress;be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him.

4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.

6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,for you alone, O LORD,make me dwell in safety.