On Being Quiet

One of the hardest things to do is to be quiet and listen, and the older I have gotten, the more I have recognized my struggles with this particular concept. The problem stems from the fact that I’ve simply not lived this way for the majority of my life. I’ve lived the antithesis of this idea, and the reference found in Proverbs 17:28 could have been written for me: “Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent” (NASB). A passage that God has recently used to speak to me is Proverbs 8:32-36. In this passage, Solomon said, “Listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.” This tells me that listening is the first step in the process of becoming wise.  James 1:19 gives further instruction about listening: “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” The result of learning to be a better listener leads not only to wisdom, but blessing. The Hebrew word for blessing in Proverbs 8 is ASHERI, which means happy (in this sense a blessing that comes from taking action—here, listening to God’s word). Not only are we instructed to listen, we are also instructed to take the action of watching and waiting daily for God’s words of instruction. IF we do this, we will find life and obtain God’s blessing. If we fail to listen and seek God’s instruction daily, then we are simply injuring ourselves and “loving death.”  Something Paul said in Ephesians strikes me as relevant here: ““For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church” (Eph. 5:29, NASB). If we truly value our lives, we will learn to listen and heed God’s instruction daily.