"…the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."
[Habakkuk 2:20 NKJV]
This scripture replays in my mind and I realize it’s been singing over me for a while. I hear a story of a speaker who stands on a stage, saying nothing, until the crowd is completely silent; and I find myself wondering how long it takes me to be silent when the Lord has something to say.
I’m so used to bringing my worship in the form of noise, that I struggle with the art of being “silent before Him”. I’m so trained to declare my praise, but when my prayers turn into demands and my songs run amuck on dry land, it’s time to be still in His stillness. Even though the sea settles on the shore, the ripples in the sand remind me that my soul noise will never calm those waves.
Only the one who commands the wind can calm the waves (Mark 4:41).
My tendency to nag Him with my needs or my wants fall flat when I accept that He knows in advance and that He doesn’t forget. I know by now that His ways aren’t my ways (Isaiah 55:9), and I wonder how I ever thought that maybe my way was better.
When God has something to say, He often waits until we’re ready to hear (John 16:12), and I sober with the reality that He’s probably been waiting for a while. While I calm my mind with His truth and breathe deep of the hope that anchors my soul, I am overwhelmed by His kind of love. The kind that demands reverence in His Holy presence, but desires our presence so He can bring more of Himself.
“…When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;
and He will tell you things to come." [John 16:13 NKJV]
I believe that God desires to speak to us; but He won’t waste words, and He rarely shouts (1 Kings 19:12). The God who speaks and then “it is” and “it is good” because “He is good” (Genesis 1 & Luke 18:19), has something to say, and I need to be able to hear His voice through the chaos and the noise. “…There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7b) Those words on the page send me to my knees, “…speak Lord, for Your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10b); this is my time of silence and His time to speak.
I didn't know that is the easier part. The harder thing brings conviction I don’t want to admit. How long will I wait in His silence? Will I wait even when the silence is deafening? When the doubt presses in? When the boredom turns to weariness? When I hear my soul muttering impatience? When the enemy sends arrows that look a lot like my worst fears? Will I wait with eyes wide open and heart expectant so I don’t miss His voice behind me saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it”? (Isaiah 30:21a) Yeah. I want to be where He is, even if He's in the silent place, so I still choose to wait.
I used to think His silence meant I’m going the wrong way, but I’m learning that His silence means I’m right where I need to be. How long will He have to wait for me to be at peace right here? He is the One who has patience with me. It’s been a long road of in-between, the waiting on the knees, gripping to faith while tripping through life. Being comfortable with more of Him and less of me. Tuning my heart to hear His voice above all else. I’m learning to exchange my noise for silence before Him, and it’s sharpening my senses to His will over mine.
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