Silence

O LORD, you are my rock of safety. Please help me; don't refuse to answer me. For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die. Psalm28:1NLT

Silence is suspicious! Ask any parent who suddenly notices that the playful laughter and giggles of their little treasures stop, followed by silence. More often than not, it means they have found something to do that would not be liked by mum and dad. Silence is suspicious. Ask the person who is awakened from a deep sleep by the eerie sound of silence as their house is violated by a cat burglar. Yes, silence is suspicious and unhealthy.

We too become silent at times, but ask yourself when that is most likely to happen? I can see two possibilities at least. One, when a usually down and negative person who talks a lot about all his overstated medical ailments, has come to realise that s/he really IS ill this time so nothing constructive can be added or contrived, so silence is their only way out to save face. And Two, which I think more likely, is the silence of someone who has been hurt in some way by friends or trusted colleagues, but due to a sense of misplaced loyalty cannot, and will not, speak out against them. The realisation that they may not be all that s/he had thought is just too much to bear, so the obvious response becomes a retreated silence. The trouble now is that any underlying issue cannot and will not be addressed.

When your normally upbeat and talkative friend goes quiet, ask yourself why, then do the best and most helpful thing you possibly can. Draw alongside to let them know you are here for them, and most of all, you care. You may never know in this life the good you have done, but be assured, your friend will know. A parting thought because the opposite holds true too: If you, or no one else, comes alongside for them, that has an equal and opposite effect on your friend.

We must not get tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up. When we have the opportunity to do good to anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers. Galatians6:9-10ERV