“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
Why was Jesus able to be silent in the midst of the mistreatment and accusations He faced? Confidence. Jesus was confident in the fact that His Father was working out His perfect plan of redemption. He did not feel compelled to fight back or argue with His accusers because he knew his Father was in control.
Silence is a sign of assurance and confidence and strength. As it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be silent, and know that I am God.” What does it mean to know that He is God? It means to know who God truly is, the sovereign almighty, all-knowing God whose plans are never frustrated and whose will is always accomplished. Silence demonstrates a genuine trust in God. God does not need a multiplicity of words to defend Himself or to reveal Himself in this world.
May you learn that sometimes the very best response to God is in the form of silence.
Labels: bible, communication, God, Isaiah, Jesus, old testament, psalms, silence
Sometimes I wish that we could all be a little more like Pinocchio. Not because of the strings or being made out of wood, but because of his nose. If you recall, Pinocchio’s nose gets him into all sorts of trouble because it grows when he tells a lie. In many ways, it would make life far easier if there was some easy way to tell if someone were lying.
We all know the damage that can come when we choose to lie. It is such a significant issue that Agur, the author of Proverbs 30, asked for help from the Lord to never do it.
As a parent of young children, I have learned that you do not need to teach a child to lie, rather you must teach them the importance of telling the truth. As sinful humans, we naturally lie to protect ourselves or others. We lie because we fear what might happen if we tell the truth and because, ultimately, we do not trust that God is in control.
May you come to trust that God does know the future and is in control and that you can confidently speak the truth regardless of the outcome.
Labels: Agur, bible, communication, God, lying, old testament, parenting, Pinocchio, proverbs
The theme this week is communication. The wisdom literature of the Proverbs and the poetry of the Psalms have much to say about how we communicate. Sometimes this communication happens internally, sometimes it happens with other people, and sometimes it happens between us and God. So much of life involves communication, so I hope that you are able to glean much from the devotionals this week.
Todays Devotional:
I don’t know if you have heard of the TV show American Idol. Basically the show is a singing competition. My favorite part of the show is the audition segment in the first few weeks. It never fails that a few people will audition who are poor singers, but think they are good because all their friends say they are good. Either these friends are terrible judges of musical talent, or they were saying flattering words to boost this person’s self-esteem.
This is the danger of flattery. It is terribly misleading, if not entirely wrong. Proverbs tells us that flattery causes ruin (26:28), that it is a trap for people (29:5), and that it is less appreciated than frankness (28:23).
Flattery can be as subtle as it is destructive. It can be easy to justify the use of flattery as well. How bad can something we say be if it results in someone feeling better about themselves. Even though you love and care for the person that you are speaking with, the Bible tells us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), not speak a half-truth or choose to omit the truth.
Flattery may sound nice, but in the end someone will get hurt.
Labels: American Idol, bible, communication, Ephesians, God, old testament, proverbs, psalms
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