All tagged silent
Do we walk with God, or are we still yearning to walk with Him? How close is our relationship, or in its absence, how desperately do we seek His presence? In our desire for salvation and eternal life do we place these goals above simply loving God? If so, do we realize that without that love there will never be a quiet stroll through the garden, or a conversation spent speaking without having to utter a word?
This morning I was reading about Jesus before He experienced the passion, and how He allowed Peter, James, and John to see Him speak with Elijah and Moses on the mountain. In this scene He was transfigured right before their eyes. Even His clothing glowed... yet He commanded them not to tell anyone of this until He had risen from the dead... why the silence, and is this an unusual request?
It is hard to stand silent when we are being disparaged by someone. We are tempted to confront those who do this to us, and yet we have two examples of this happening in scripture that we should use as our guides when this occurs to us. The most obvious is Jesus as he stood accused before the chief priests, and again before Pilot. Even unto death He did not quarrel or defend Himself. The second was King David as Shemei, a relative of Saul, cursed him in front of all his men. This man chased after David and derided him, while throwing stones and dust at him, but David did not retaliate. All of us have been in such situations, and I ask that we each reflect on how we behaved.
A quiet and still spirit, and a self at peace, these are commonly recognized as precursors to hearing God’s voice. Elijah knew it, Job knew it, Eliphaz the Temanite knew it, and the sons of Korah who wrote the 46th psalm knew it too. These are just a few men mentioned in God’s Holy Word who knew how to listen for Him to speak; they understood that if we seek God, and can still ourselves, we will begin to hear His voice.