Shhhh..... You Talk Too Much: Silence Challenge

Yesterday, my friend, Cory told me that I need to be quiet sometimes. I am not sure if he knew what he was doing but he struck a chord in me and in a nice Christian way. Cory, I admit, is one of the only persons besides my sister, dad, and daughter who can handle my strong personality with ease and who can make me actually listen to them (I'm a little stubborn, please pray for me). Cory is right though, I do talk a lot and I talk extremely fast sometimes that I rarely pause to take a breath.  I am extremely opinionated and at times I think I know it all. Well after conversely humbling me (and that puts it lightly), Cory also sent me a video that I'd like to share by Paul Tripp (a fire and brimstone pastor and author) and I saw what Cory and Paul were saying. Click the links on "video" and "Paul Tripp" to watch. And there is much scripture to back up "moments of silence" in our lives:

 "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."  ~ Lamentations 3:26

“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

“Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel." ~ Job 29:21

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." ~ Psalm 62:5

"For everything there is a season [...] A time to be quiet and a time to speak." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1,7

As Paul Tripp said, "We don't have to speak all the time. It is the maturity of silence that is very important. And the more we talk, the sin nature inside of us will be within those words. So speak less and stop caressing our reputations. Rest in God and be quiet."  Because when God is silent, He wants us to trust Him or to be vigilant to what He has already said, done, or promised and will say, do, or promise.

We get so lost in talking and our little lifely distractions that we miss out on things. But the Bible declares, "[f]or everything there is a season [...] a time to be quiet and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7). What Cory doesn't know is that his advice was timely because I was broken from a prior night of conviction due to a conversation he and I had about "Is God Alone Not Enough?" God had started working on me with "being quiet" because I felt He was not speaking to me, but how can He when we are always talking, texting, Skyping, Facebooking, Tweeting, FaceTiming, oovoing, and God knows what else? When are we quiet enough to hear the gentle whispers of our Father's voice? Paul Tripp says when we talk so much it is "self-righteous" because most of that talk becomes about "us." And it is true - "my blog," "my status update," "my salvation," "my boyfriend," "my husband," "my baby," "my ministry," "my book," all this "my,my,my." What about God? So, I challenge you to join me and to get quiet before God, put down all the distractions for a week or so and sit at His feet like the desperate daughters and sons we are commissioned to be and "listen" to Him for once. Yes, hush, and listen to your Daddy. He's been trying to get your attention and He's tired of competing with our little idols that we think is social media and just "conversation." If it leads you away from Him or occupies your time then it is an idol. If you will join me in this (starting tonight or tomorrow), comment below and keep a journal of what God reveals during this time and share with me in a week (February 25-26, 2013) when I blog request your answers via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

I am choosing to not talk via social media for an entire week (starting tomorrow) because that is my biggest "outlet." I am not saying that you should not "talk" but you know the areas that you "talk" the most and too much in/on and could devote that time to God through more Bible reading, praying, reading supplemental Christian books, fasting, etc. Just get close to God, so close that you could touch the feet of Jesus's garment or wash Jesus's feet with your hair and just sit there and rest in His presence. When you are done, journal your feelings, thoughts, and what God says or reveals to you.

It's exciting to think of being before our precious God! My goodness my heart smiles! Rest sisters and brothers, just rest and be okay before our Father. And listen to this if you have to, to understand silence. Jesus loves you and so do I! I will "talk" to you in a week! *Smile*