We talked about silence this week with regard to the Red Sea: "The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent." That's a tall order for us women, isn't it? Our solving problems involves lots of talking, both to others and to God. But if we want God to fight for us, sometimes we really need to be quiet.
Having said that, being quiet is not enough. We have to listen to God in our silence. We have to listen hard and long and well. We have to be silent with our Bibles open before us so we can hear, really hear, what God has to say to us in our troubles and otherwise. Don't minimize the value of this; it is essential.
Even as recently as this morning, I was beating myself up (baseball bat, in case you were wondering . . . ) over my sins and self-absorption. Fortunately, I stopped long enough to hear God whisper in my ear verses from Romans 7 and 8: "O, who will rescue me from this body of death? [For surely I needed rescue.] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! . . . There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Did I feel better then? No. But I believe that what He says is true, and I'm standing on that. And I will stand, thanks to Jesus Christ.
My encouragement to you this day is a simple phrase we teach our toddlers at the road side: Stop, look, and listen. Stop talking, look at Christ and His Word, listen to His words to you this day.
Thanks for so many excellent posts, and for the reminder to stand on God's words regardless of what our feelings are telling us. So often I keep reminding myself of my failures because I am so conscious of them and it seems what Jesus has done for me is too good to be true. It is indeed amazingly good, but it is also indeed true!
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