I- TO ASSESS A SITUATION
The Biblical term is discernment.

A- God’s direction
Abraham’s servant sent to get wife for Isaac.
The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. (Gen 24:21 NRSV)

B- Your attitude
Advice from the Psalmist
When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. (Psa 4:4 NRSV)

II- TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION
To hear God’s word
Then Moses and the levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Keep silence and hear, O Israel! This very day you have become the people of the LORD your God. (Deu 27:9 NRSV)

III- TO KNOW GOD
A- God is present in silence.
and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. (1 Ki 19:12 NRSV)
B- There is some knowledge of God that can only come in stillness.

IV- TO HONOR TO GOD
Silence in face of God’s words/actions
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him! (Hab 2:20 NRSV)

V- IT IS ESSENTIAL TO DISCIPLESHIP
A- Its all about what God is doing.
B- We are called to listen and observe what God is saying and doing.

“If Christians were known as the people who listened–not the people who only talk–it could change, in days and weeks, the place of Christians in this post-Christian era of American culture.” -Michael Card

Filed under: The Journey |