Sheer Silence

...and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 1Kings19:12NRSV

Do you ever crave silence? Perhaps a silence where you can think straight, and avoid the daily distractions? We know the story where Elijah the strong and powerful prophet of God came up against an evil woman called Jezebel who promised to make his life a misery, to the point of death. The great Elijah ran scared for his life. We smile at this sometimes, but which of us has never run from a test or temptation instead of facing it down? So let’s not be too hasty in judgement.

God used the elements of nature to get his attention. An earthquake, but no success. A fire, and still Elijah wasn’t able to hear God. But when it was ‘sheer silence’, and there were no other distractions, Elijah heard the voice of God, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”. Elijah was faced with the same question by God in v9 and v13, almost as though it didn’t get through the first time, or it needed to be emphasised. God certainly wanted his attention, and only then Elijah got the message.

God doesn’t always get through to us in the big things either. The Crusades, or the Campaigns (Revivals to our American cousins), or the Gospel Music Concerts, all with their noisy Biblical content (all good of course!). However, many times God needs us to be quiet before Him, without the distractions that noise can bring. Very recently, a close friend suffered a particularly bad couple of days in his health, but in that time there wasn’t much conversation or prayer going on between him and God. He was too busy trying to find a way to feel better as each passing hour seemed more painful than the last. When the ‘noise’ of the pain reduced and eased, that was when God spoke. But not only that, it was when my friend was in a place to listen.

Where and when would be the best place and time for God to speak clearly to you, and more importantly, for you to be able to listen?

Boiling Water

In the old example, the frog jumps clear from the container when it discovers the water is too hot for it to survive. So, it either boils to death or jumps to live. On the other hand, a frog will sit, stay and die in the same container of water if the temperature is slowly increased to the same boiling point as before.

Why am I saying this? What’s the parallel with the frog? Let me explain, and please stay with me because I might ruffle a few feathers and upset some friends, but neither of these is my aim or purpose. Let’s make the analogy to our church, its beliefs, and the individual members. Let’s say one of the members goes to church year after year, checks out the beliefs and fully accepts the theology. The water in the tank is just right, and that’s ok. Then someone in leadership adds, removes, or alters, one of the basic beliefs you had accepted. This doesn’t feel right, and the water slowly gets warmer still. Then another person you respect and trust accepts and adopts yet another change fully and the water continues to boiling point. What to do now?

If this ‘old’ member stays against their better judgement, they will spiritually die in the slow change of temperature as it rises. However, if that same old member senses the sudden temperature change and acts quickly to leap from the tank, he or she is saved and can find another tank where the spiritual atmosphere and temperature is just right, and that ‘frog’ will survive.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27

In this parable Jesus says that the storm came in increasing intensity. The rain, then the floods, and finally the winds. At each point the house owner had the chance to react, but the foolish man built on a soft foundation and chose not to move. He had the same circumstances as the wise man. The difference was in the sure, unchangeing foundation of his belief. Which storms would you or I survive? Based on the ‘frog and the boiling water’ example, who do you see as the wise frog? It comes down to this, would you jump or die?

The Calm

It’s the calm before the storm we say, and we know it is true both in weather, and our own lives. In recent days there have been some devastating hurricanes which caused widespread devastation across the Caribbean and into some southern US States. Sadly lives have been lost, and equally sad is the fact that these storms will happen again!

When the hurricane is approaching, warnings are given and homeowners start to make preparations by shuttering windows, and stocking up on essential provisions. With today’s advanced forecasting, these storms seldom catch us by surprise. We can react to the approaching hurricane, as we batten down the hatches! Then we tough it out as best we can in the hope that we have prepared well enough. Then a strange thing happens, right in the middle of the hurricane comes the uncanny calm. It seems out of place because we know we are in the ‘eye’ of the storm and it will start again. We have taken the necessary precautions, but this window of calm perhaps allows us to think about our mortality, and the people who are important to us, and trust they are safe. In essence, we get time to calculate how bad the storm has been, and are warned that it will be repeated.

Our hurricanes in life are like that. We usually know when they are coming. There are warning signs, and the wise will take the steps they know will be necessary to ride it out. Our storms will be hurricanes of financial distress, illness, family health, or death of a loved one. I would also suggest it can be the worry of the state of the church, or the strength of our own faith. Sometimes we have to just sit tight and ride out the storm, and then the eerie calm of the ‘eye’ comes. This is the time to hunker down and pray for the things we have no control over, and leave in God’s hands. Sometimes this is exactly the time to re-evaluate the strength of our faith, or our church. These things are in our hands, and we can usually do something in addition to pray.

When the calm of the ‘eye’ has passed, we know what will be coming. It already took its effect on us and will do so again. However, this time we can determine to change something that’s in our control that we didn’t take care of when the storm first hit. It may be time to take our faith deeper and to put some of those fears we carry, behind us where they belong. We may know the storm is coming, but we don’t always understand how it will affect us. That is the very time to use the period of calm. If we don’t, we will be no stronger when the next hurricane hits us, and let’s be honest, nothing is surer. Indeed, the eye of the storm can be a real Godsend.

Calm Before The Storm

Personal story: there was a lady who didn’t keep very well for a long time, but she was always telling us that she wasn’t doing so good. We listened and then moved on to do the other things that we saw as important. Then we noticed a change, slowly and over time, she got quieter until she wasn’t saying much about her problems, even though we were all well aware of her condition. It struck us all, that the silence was a sure way of knowing that she really wasn’t feeling well this time, and we took notice. But it took the silence to bring it to our attention.

There can be a period of calm before the storm too, which should also make us sit up and take notice. Have you seen changes in the lives of those around you? Have they gone quiet? What about your family? How about your church? I am asking for a reason. One which has disturbed me for a few days now.

Take the hypothetical example of a church which is going along, quite nicely, just getting by numerically and financially, and taking for granted that it would always be there, because it has always been a part of your life, and so it becomes ‘part of the furniture’. Then you are hit with a bombshell. Your place of worship is threatened, or at least has to change beyond recognition. You then have a choice to make. You, and everyone else who uses the facility so readily and without thought.

Take the example a little further. A church meeting is held, and attended by a few, who hear the Pastor share his troubled heart. His church that he has worked in for the past several years, is slowly declining and he sees the warning lights and hears crisis bells peal. He shares openly and sincerely, what is a difficult message. As a church, we are in deep trouble. Now try to imagine the response?

The roar of silence. Stony silence. Deafening silence. How do you read this story? Is this silence a confirmation that there is resignation to a downward spiral? Or maybe it is the effect of hearing something that wasn’t expected, and you are in shock? Or again, maybe it is the calm before the storm. I don’t know what lies ahead for this particular church, but the silence troubled me, and reminded me of the dear lady at the start of this piece. Now, we are in no doubt about the severity of the situation. The atmosphere has changed, and it cannot be denied. I suppose the silence may also mean that the small group in question is taking stock as how to respond to make an improvement that will be noticed, and the sooner the better. Perhaps the silence shows a sense of urgency. One thing is certain in my own mind. This particular Pastor is hurting, and must also be feeling very vulnerable. We need to show support where we can to the pastoral family unit, and uphold him and the church in intercessory prayer.

As I thought about this situation, two verses kept coming to mind, and I will share them with you in closing my thoughts. To my thinking this particular church needs a vision to grow, and secondly and much more importantly, the church of Jesus Christ will always survive wherever it stays true to the core gospel message:

Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18

...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

So my friends who have read this far, over to you. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions that would help to improve the chances of a good recovery for this particular wounded and ailing patient? You can share them here.