Where is God in His silence?
So much can be said in what we do not say, in fact, just as much if not more than what we do say. There is a power in what we omit, & this goes for God too. There is a cliche quote I once heard (yes, that I love) that reads,
"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take,
but by the moments that take your breath away."
Now as cheesy or cliche as this quote is, I love it and am reminded of it in thinking about the silence of God because the statement points out the valuable parts or moments of life. It is in these moments that we become speechless, that a loss for words occurs. I think the reason the moments in our life that are extremely sacred, painful and precious, are left with a lack of words to describe or account for them is because of the power that silence has.
In the last 2 years I have experienced the loss of 11 people that were close to me, at least at one time or another. Only 2 of those passed due to a factor of old age, the rest were within a couple years older or younger than myself. In this time of tragedy and complete pain in trying to deal and understand the events I felt God's silence.
This silence made me angry with God.
I wanted explanation, and justice, and comfort from Him in this mess.
But instead I got silence, and more loss, and more silence.
But as I look back and think about how I handled the events and how the people around me tried to help and encourage me I realize that I longed for silence in that time.
Every time someone passed, I was reached out to in a variety of ways and verses. People tried to tell me they knew how I felt, or that they had no idea how I felt. People sent me verse after verse, and note after note asking me what they could do or what they could say that would comfort me.
But I didn't want words. There were no words for the pain that I was experiencing. Or no words for the ways that I would grow because of the events. I didn't crave words, in fact, I ran from them all. I craved silence. Silence was more healing than any words could stand for.
Because there is an incredible power in silence.
Danielle Nicole
So much can be said in what we do not say, in fact, just as much if not more than what we do say. There is a power in what we omit, & this goes for God too. There is a cliche quote I once heard (yes, that I love) that reads,
"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take,
but by the moments that take your breath away."
Now as cheesy or cliche as this quote is, I love it and am reminded of it in thinking about the silence of God because the statement points out the valuable parts or moments of life. It is in these moments that we become speechless, that a loss for words occurs. I think the reason the moments in our life that are extremely sacred, painful and precious, are left with a lack of words to describe or account for them is because of the power that silence has.
In the last 2 years I have experienced the loss of 11 people that were close to me, at least at one time or another. Only 2 of those passed due to a factor of old age, the rest were within a couple years older or younger than myself. In this time of tragedy and complete pain in trying to deal and understand the events I felt God's silence.
This silence made me angry with God.
I wanted explanation, and justice, and comfort from Him in this mess.
But instead I got silence, and more loss, and more silence.
But as I look back and think about how I handled the events and how the people around me tried to help and encourage me I realize that I longed for silence in that time.
Every time someone passed, I was reached out to in a variety of ways and verses. People tried to tell me they knew how I felt, or that they had no idea how I felt. People sent me verse after verse, and note after note asking me what they could do or what they could say that would comfort me.
But I didn't want words. There were no words for the pain that I was experiencing. Or no words for the ways that I would grow because of the events. I didn't crave words, in fact, I ran from them all. I craved silence. Silence was more healing than any words could stand for.
Because there is an incredible power in silence.
Danielle Nicole
I really like your thoughts on this. If we are on Earth surrounded by people, I think the greatest lesson God teaches us in His silence is our reliance on and trust in others. If we turned to Him every time we felt loss, or hurt, or pain, we would never benefit from the love of another human being--and He would steal all the opportunities available for us to reach out likewise to someone else feeling those things. Good insights.
ReplyDelete:) Thanks Ryan, completely agreed.
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