I live on a very busy road. Very busy. Vehicles speed up and down this road day and night ... seemingly non stop. The thing is, my home is close to this road ... which means that I hear each and every car or truck. My husband can even pick out the make of a truck going by based on the sound of the engine! Ha!
Yesterday afternoon a wintery mix of precipitation began to fall in our area. By midnight I was lying awake in my bed listening to heavy sleet fall. When I awoke at 7 am, the sleet had stopped.
And so had everything else.
I listened ... to nothing. No sleet. And most notably, no vehicles. At one of the busiest times of day, there was nothing ... but silence. No roar of engines. No whir of tires on wet pavement. No horns.
Silence.
If you live off the beaten path then a moment like this is most likely lost on you. But for me, the silence, it was amazing. Even as I sit in my living room typing right now I am listening to a plethora of vehicles ... oh wait, there went a truck with a snow plow, they are especially loud. The noise seems never to cease. Oh -- did I forget to mention there is a train track on the other side of this very busy road? And did I forget to mention that a train goes up and down this track multiple times daily? Yep. Noise. Always.
Of course I have become very accustomed to the cadence of my home environment. I almost don't even notice it anymore.
But I did notice the silence.
I laid in bed as still as I could. I listened as hard as I could ... my husband cleared his throat from the next room. "Shhh" I said. Silence. I didn't want anything to break it. Who knew how long it would last? I soaked it in ... the silence. I listened to it ... to the silence.
I reflected on that silence throughout the morning. It was not the first time that God had laid the weight of silence on my heart in these past seven days. But earlier in the week He brought before me the value of silence in my speech life.
You see, I like to talk. It's probably one of my favorite pastimes. I cultivate and grow friendships through talking. I work out my problems through talking. I share joy and pain with my loved ones through talking. I pray to and praise God through talking. I believe I can honor God in all those ways and that God honors them too. But this week He has reminded me that silence is also honored, and honoring.
Let's consider this further. James chapter 3 tells us of the power the tongue has. "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (James 3:5-6)
Wow ... I can do a lot of honorable things with my tongue. But the Bible reminds me that my tongue also has power to do evil. Not just any evil ... evil from the fires of hell itself. Exactly what kind of evil? Lies. Cursing. Slander. Gossip. Blasphemy.
I am called to do many things with my tongue ... first and foremost to share the Gospel to the glory of the God of all creation. But if I don't allow God to have control of my tongue it can do so much damage, just like a rapidly spreading wildfire. And lest I ever think my words are "no big deal", my Savior Jesus Christ says "I tell you, on the day of judgement people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37) Justification and condemnation ... the paradox of the tongue.
This week, I've been pondering how my tongue can best be used by God. I want to speak wisdom and truth into situations that need it desperately. Biblically, I am instructed to do this. I need to speak and I've prayed for God to show me exactly how to do this. And yet God gave me silence. Silence. Silence has its place too.
It hit me this morning. As I deeply relished the silence around my home, I realized that the sound of nothing, is still a sound. And it can be revitalizing to the soul. It can be treasured. It can be honored. Habakkuk 2:20 says "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him." He's holy ... keep silent. Silence, from the earth and from my mouth, can acknowledge the holiness of the Lord Almighty.
Silence, just as much as spoken word, bears weight. Now, I will not fail to acknowledge that silence can do damage too, just like my tongue. If I am silent too long, if I am silent at the time the Holy Spirit urges me to speak truth, then I am disobedient in my silence. There is a time to speak. "To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!" (Proverbs 15:23) A word, a wise and truthful word, in season, is good. Silence, in its proper season, is good. May God grant me the grace and wisdom to know those seasons ...
