His voice

Can silence really help people to hear from God?
In this noisy world our soul easily gets filled with voices.
Voices from our surroundings, friends, family members,
politicians, cats, dogs, birds and the lonely mosquitoes
begging for our attention in the darkness of the night.
The Holy Spirit in every believer’s soul has created in him
a new capacity to filter this noise.
This is the kind of silence that enables us to hear God.
Think about the martyrs who were brought to the arena.
They did not respond to the roaring crowds. The lions
didn’t get their attention. Their souls were silenced by
the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Their silent voices are heard still today.
But beware; silence can help your lying, too.
It has been used successfully to avoid all responsibility
behind the mask of so called wisdom.
God did not save the world by his silence, but by
becoming the Word.
If we remain silent in the time of need God will raise his
voice from somewhere else. Esther 4:14
May our silent moments always prepare us to be His voice.

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945