Silence speaks volumes.

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Psalm 46:10 speaks volumes about being silent and when we allow it too, the silence speaks volumes. Which is something that I struggle with, and believe me, I know that revelation doesn't shock any of you. It's funny, because the last few months I've been pretty silent on here to the point that my writing has become non-existent. I realized last night that that silence is in direct correlation with my lack of silence in my communication with God. When I'm not still, I'm not listening... which a lot of times means I'm not learning. However, it's more complex than that...

Being that I am a "talker" (which is a vast understatement), I tend to communicate really well on my end, to the point that I over communicate on everything. Don't believe me? Ask my girlfriend, I'm sure she would love to have someone listen about my over communication problem. Here's what I realized yesterday... Sometimes when I pray, especially on long drives, or walks, when I have complete focus and reverence before The Lord, I tend to over communicate. I just continue to spew words, wants, needs, and desires out to God to the point that I don't think I'm really communicating with God anymore, instead, I'm just thinking out loud. My prayers become less reverent & focused, and more rambled & frustrated. I'm often too concerned with telling God to teach me things, to answer me, to provide for me, to heal me, to comfort me... instead of realizing that He is already doing those things, and I could feel His presence in a stronger way if I would just shut up...

Through this realization came yet another lesson. I'm telling you, when I shut up and listen God pours it on. This morning I read Colossians 3:15-17:

 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

I realized that my inability to be still is correlated to my inability to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, and to let the word of Christ dwell in me. The icing on this cake of realization, is that all of that also causes me to stumble in my thankfulness. I find myself praising and thanking God less when I'm over communicating. One of my prayers almost every day, is that God would shape me into the man he's calling me to be... and somehow, I expect Him to do that without listening to that calling. I want others to see Jesus in me, I want to learn patience and stillness, and I want to practice those things daily. I want to know God, to the fullest extent, to the point that in everything I do whether in word or deed I'm seeking and glorifying Him.

Unfortunately, I have failed in doing those things daily.

Fortunately, that failure is forgiven daily, and I am wiped clean.

In order to know God, we must seek Him, and in order to seek Him, we have to be in relationship with Him, and in order to be in relationship with Him, our communication must become a two way street. I'm going to stop talking, and start listening. I'm going to strive to be more like Jesus today, and find joy in the stillness.

It's better that way.

Grace and Peace