Silence Can Be Golden

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. Job 33:14 (NIV)

It’s been some time since I’ve written in Thought for the Day. You see a long time ago when I started this, I promised myself that if God didn’t give me something to write, I wasn’t going to post. I never wanted this ministry to be about what I thought. I wanted the Holy Spirit to be the one leading, not me. I knew that if God wasn’t leading, the thoughts would become watered down with my human thoughts.

Back toward the end of September, the thoughts starting coming less frequently. There were days I got an idea of something to write about but, I was not impressed to post it.

As I’ve looked back on this time and prayed about it, a few ideas struck me.

First, God has still been talking. He’s been talking about a journey we are walking right now. He is talking to me on a regular basis about some personal things. As I prayed about the fact that I have not been feeling called to write each day, I’ve asked God “What’s up? Am I too distracted? Is there something messed up in my hearing? My motivation?” After lots of praying about this, I don’t think so.

Last night, as I lay in bed and talked to God about it some more, one thought did cross my mind. The fact that God is silent where my writing is concerned and that we are still talking, just about different subjects, is very much a relationship.

Sometimes, even when you are very close to someone, you don’t always talk about everything that needs to be said. You don’t always talk about everything that is on your mind. Sometimes, there is silence. And let’s face it. God is God. He can talk when and where he wants.

It would be really dangerous for me to assume that he is always going to react and speak exactly how I want him to. Just like I should never expect that from my husband or any other close friend, I certainly should never assume with God.

What I will do though, is acknowledge that he is the leader in this relationship and that if he wants to be silent, so be it. I will follow in that silence and wait. Because when he speaks, it will definitely be worth it.

How To Come Up With A Plan

“Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.  But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives.  Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.  Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.  And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” Genesis 6:17-21 (NLT)

My natural bend is to be a task oriented person (God is working with me on this.) So I look at today’s text and see a list of things to do.

Build the boat.
Gather all the animals.
Get them into the boat.
Bring your family.
Gather food for the animals and your family.

Each one of those has a million subtasks. Like for example, where do you get the materials to build the boat? How are you going to clean up after the animals? How are you going to keep the food from going bad?

Do you think when God said to Noah “This is my plan for you” Noah’s eyes glazed over and he got stuck? Being the way I am, I would have started making lists. Endless lists of what had to be done and when. I would have become so focused on the lists that I’d forget to look at God.

Another thing I would probably do is ask God to lay out exactly when I needed to have everything done. I would want to know when the flood was going to start. I probably would have had endless questions.

But, as I ponder the story, God worked with Noah for around 100 years to get the job done (give or take depending on the calculations you use.) He gave him the information he needed when he needed it. For example, when the boat was ready, God said “Seven days from now I will send the rain.” He didn’t tell him way in advance. At the end of the flood, God told Noah when he was to come out of the boat. He didn’t leave a lot of room for guessing.

A couple of things pop into my mind when I read this story. First, God chooses us for his plan and he gives us the ability to do what he asks. There were so many parts of this job that Noah had never done. Heck, they’d never even seen rain before! But God walked him through it, step by step. Next, God’s timing and his communication about that timing is perfect.

He told Noah what Noah needed to know when he needed to know it. Every part was covered even down to the part about taking seven of the clean animals so at the end Noah could offer a sacrifice without killing off a species.

What was Noah’s role? To listen for God’s direction and do what God said when he said it. Today, as you look at the list of things you have to get accomplished, maybe instead of getting overwhelmed you could give it to God and ask for his plan. Maybe if we make his plan our plan we’d do amazing things for him like build an ark or spread his kingdom to the corners of the world. What do you think?

A Minute In It - A Time For Everything

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read the passage below and answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

1 For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)

What season are you in?
Are you dreading it or celebrating it?
Are you leaving the timing to God?
What would God want you to do with it?

Fourteen Years Of Trouble

And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before.  Genesis 42:9 (NLT)

Fourteen years.  Joseph had a dream that his brothers would one day bow down to him. He shared that dream with them. And then he had another similar dream. He shared that with his fathers and his brother. At this, his father chastised him and brothers were very angry. The brothers solution?  Why, let's sell him into slavery to get rid of him.

Fast forward 14 years. The Bible says in verse 6, Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. 

It took 14 years from the time Joseph had his dreams about his brothers before it came to fruition. What do you think took so long?  If this was God's plan, why didn't he just work it out?

 In Psalms 105:19 it says Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. I read this text as an "until/and". God's timing is a combination of things. The time has to be perfect and our character needs to be ready. Joseph had the dream but there was no famine. It was a dream of things to come. And, without testing his character, would Joseph be ready to be the second in command of Egypt?

I often wonder why things seem to take forever. God has us on a journey and the journey is long and hard. I want it to be over and done with. But, as I read this story I begin to understand that God's timing is flawless. He knows when things need to happen and he knows when we are ready.

Today, if you feel like you are walking through years of trouble, hold on. God's been timing things for thousands of years and he hasn't gotten it wrong yet.