Last week, I was sick for several days and had to miss work. I used this time to pray and study my bible. I started thinking about the times that God used moments of silence to restore and minister to different individuals in the bible. I took time to reflect on all the times in my life that God made his presence known to me in little ways, like a card in the mail from an old friend or when someone just felt like they should bring me a cup of coffee. I didn't really pray, just thought, "Lord, it would be nice to have a moment for a cup of coffee."
In our moments of silence, sometimes our answers come to us, but sometimes there are battles in our mind as Satan tries to use these moments to bring up past pain and self-doubt where we question the decisions that we have made or are about to make concerning our belief and faith in Jesus, our Savior. This is when we should look for guidance from God in His Holy Word. This is when we should be asking God to transform our mind to one that is Godly (Romans 12:1-2). Instead, we often revisit feelings and problems that we have asked God to take from us. Sometimes we are lazy; instead of taking the opportunity to pray and gain the knowledge to use against Satan, we lay down and sleep -- just as the disciples did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was under tremendous stress praying for the cup to pass by him (Matthew 26:36-44). While he prayed, the disciples slept.
We get so busy in life that we just need to slow down, listen to the Lord, and seek clarity in His Word to discern what is really of the Lord. In today's world, individuals may say they are God's anointed when they are just motivational speakers trying to make people feel better about themselves. They have no anointing or calling from God to lead anyone anywhere.
God will lead us to moments of restoration just as he did Elijah under the juniper tree God provided food and water (1 Kings 19:4). Elijah had received guidance from God in a place of quiet and received instructions to go on his 40-day journey. Moses was at the burning bush in the quietness of watching the sheep (Exodus 3:2-22). God talked with Moses instructing him to return to Egypt and bring the people out. The burning bush was not the last time that God spoke with Moses. On the Mount of Sinai, Moses communed and prayed to God for 40 days receiving the ten commandments and instructions for the Israelites.
Sometimes we need to be in a place of silence to hear God's words for us. This morning in church, God gave me an analogy for what I have been writing. If you have small children or work with children, you know the book The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It's about a caterpillar that starts out as an egg. He hatches and begins to eat a lot of food all week until he gets too fat to move. He then begins the stage where he makes his cocoon or chrysalis where he has a period of silence. He is in the cocoon for a little while. When he emerges from the cocoon, he is no longer a caterpillar but a butterfly.
What God was telling me is that we all start out as new Christians -- an egg that just hatched. We are on fire for God. We are studying, praying, and doing all these things for God. We are growing and obtaining knowledge. The same thing with veteran Christians. We are running around doing all these religious and secular things and not always hearing him. So, he gives us time to be silent in a cocoon to pray for His guidance, seek Him, give thanks, and repent. When we leave the cocoon, we will be a stronger servant of God. Our focus will be more on God and not the things around us. The time in the cocoon is our refuge from our problems and struggles, and a time for God to minister His Word to us.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentation 3:25-26
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the
earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalm 46:10
So, then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
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