Be Still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted above the earth!
(Psalm 46:10)
Before we can respond to God in any other way, we must respond to Him with respect. If we do not first surrender ourselves to Him in reverent silence, our actions will lack both power and significance. The obedience that most honors God is the obedience based on deep awe and wonder. “Be still,” God tells us, “and know that I am God.”
There is a time to speak, but there is also a time to remain silent. Nowadays, most of us have little exposure to any silence that could be called worshipful. We seek God not reverently, but in a talkative manner. In the relationship between God and man, we are talking too much. We may occasionally hold back our words, but still, our minds do not remain reverentially silent before God. They are still running at full throttle, inspired by the frenetic self-concern of our busyness. And the truth is that it is busy Religious Busyness doesn’t do much to alleviate the problem.
There is no doubt that the glory of God demands a response from us. Serving God is not merely a passive affair. But before we step forward to obey God, we must take time to stand still and get lost in wonder. And even as we actively follow God’s instructions, we must often remain silent to allow our minds to sink into His glory. If we fail to do so, our activity will lack the essential element of reverence. Without the qualities that come from faith, our service will be superficial and our lives will be little more than an accident waiting to happen. It is peace and silence that produce the best speakers and doers of God’s Word. And the faster the world, the harder they will be to come by.
In this age of the world, we have learned how we can multiply our words, and we are reminded again and again of the power of these words. But we dare not forget their danger. “The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20).
“Our loss of the sense of glory has been accompanied by a further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine presence. We have lost our sense of worship and our ability to retreat inwardly to meet God in silence” (A.W. Tozer).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
