Silence is Golden?

Eph 4:15-16

Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. But the king said, "He must go to his own house; he must not see my face." So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king (2 Sam 14:23-24).

Many people hate conflict to the point they will never confront a wrong. Taking this path will only lead to later hardship. Such was the case for Absalom and his father King David.

Amnon, also a son of David, raped his sister Tamar. When this happened, David was furious but he did not punish Amnon for his actions. Absalom saw this as a terrible injustice for his sister. So, Absalom plotted to kill Amnon at the right time. He patiently waited for two years before he set up a situation to have him killed.

David was heartbroken over the death of Amnon and held Absalom responsible. At the same time, David still desired to have a relationship with Absalom, but because he failed to address the situation with Amnon when it happened, it led to more serious consequences in the family. Absalom was banished for three years because of David's anger towards him which allowed seeds of resentment to grown in his heart. Absalom then conspired to overthrow David's kingdom.

It is imperative to confront problems when they arise no matter how uncomfortable it might be. We are called to speak the truth in love. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (Eph 4:15-16). Failure to confront in love allows the enemy to sow greater seeds of conflict.

Is there someone in your life that you need to confront in love? Make plans now to get with this person and work through the issues that divide you.

I did, I spoke to my bestest friend. I spoke from my heart. My bestest friend didn't say anything though. 

Dear God

Dear God,
Today is Christmas Eve. God, please make things right again between my closest  friend and me. This will be the best Christmas present for me. I don't want any other presents.

Thank you, God.

Dear Santa,
I don't want any presents. I just want my best friend back. He's my closest friend, my kindred spirit. I miss the old him. God sent him into my life. I pray that He won't take him away. Santa, my wish for this Christmas is to have my good old friend back. I miss the warmth of the messages sent, the gila-ness, the spontaineity.

Thank you, Santa.

1 Peter 4:9-11

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" 

"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love" (Hos 10:12). "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Cor 9:6-9).

God...

I've been trying. Real hard, God. That's why I do what I do. What else should I do, God?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

He must become greater; I must become less." - John 3:30 (NIV)

In the late '70s I sat with my folks in a hospital room in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. The doctors who had just completed tests on my eyes were explaining what it meant to have retinitis pigmentosa. They described how I would slowly lose my remaining sight and eventually be totally blind. My mind raced and my heart welled with confusing emotions. I was silent in that hospital room that day.

A few days later at my next visit, I only wish I had been silent.

We went back to the same room with some of the same doctors. This time it was to help me get on a rehabilitative program. One doctor described how large, thick glasses might help with the little vision I still had. Another discussed walking with a cane. Another doctor told me how important it was for me to have an oversized magnifying glass and advised me to use a flashlight to find my locker at school.

They stepped out of the room, and with full adolescent belligerence I ranted to my parents. "I will not wear any of that junk or use that embarrassing stuff! No way! I will not look weird!"

Just as I finished my outburst, the door opened and my new rehab counselor "rolled" in. Being legally blind, I couldn't see him well enough to detect what my mom described to me later.

He was blind in one eye, his face was disfigured, he was missing an arm, and his legs evidently weren't functional. What I could detect, even without sight, was that his voice was only audible by using an apparatus that made it sound synthesized.

Unfortunately he arrived just in time to hear my tirade about looking weird.

I was mortified by how self-centered I acted. I was humiliated by my own smallness and pride. I know he was a professional who most likely understood my immature response, but he also was a man who had lost his former physique and abilities, and who probably felt "weird" when he looked in the mirror. I was so ashamed.

I was only a few days into learning to live with blindness when I received my first lesson: when I am most self-aware, I am most miserable. Even today, as a 48-year-old woman, I still feel tinges of self-pity, self-awareness and self-absorption.

"I don't feel that's fair to me."
"Do I look okay in these jeans?"
"I don't think she likes me."
"I look weird when I can't make eye contact. I don't want people to notice."
"I need, I want, I wish."

When a big "I" is the center of our thoughts and feelings, we truly are miserable!

Perhaps that's because "I" is also in the center of pride and sin. Ouch!

Jesus said in John 12:24 that "... unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone." Alone is a miserable place to be.

"But," Christ continued, "if it dies, it bears much fruit." (ESV) The principle is this: when it is all about us, we are like that seed that is unwilling to die. Consequently, we find ourselves alone in the prison of our own self-awareness. But, when we are willing to turn our big "I" into a little "I," we are then ready to experience real life, satisfying life.

God is teaching me that true self-esteem comes from being reduced—less of me, more of Him. As I am willing to relinquish my sense of self—self-pity, self-awareness and self-absorption—I am finding simplicity in an identity that comes from His life in me, rather than an identity based upon me, myself and I.

Today, let's choose to be more full of God than we are of ourselves.

Dear Lord, I want to decrease so You will increase in me. May I be like a seed, willing to die, so I can truly live and give life to others. May my letter "I" not be in pride or sin, but may it be found in Christ. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Reflect and Respond:
Ways to shrink your letter "I":
1. Focus on someone else's needs. Yours will feel less obvious.
2. Grant someone else the attention you are trying to get for yourself.
3. Begin your day with this question, "How may I serve You today, Lord?"

Power Verses:
Matthew 22:37-39: "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NIV)

Psalm 27:8: "My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek." (NIV)

Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." (NIV)

Psalm 139:12

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Sam stuck close to his dad. The old building was dark, and Sam wasn't sure what might be out in that darkness. All he knew for sure was that his dad was big and brave, and he wasn't afraid of the dark. Sam hoped that one day he would be like his dad: able to walk in darkness just like he would in broad daylight.

Our Lord goes with us into the dark times of our lives. He holds us by the hand and lets us know that we have nothing to fear. Darkness and light are the same to the Lord. He will lead us through our times of fear and bring us back into the light every time.

Psalm 143

A Psalm of David

¹ Lord, hear my prayer,
    listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
    come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
    for no one living is righteous before you.
³ The enemy pursues me,
    he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
    like those long dead.
⁴ So my spirit grows faint within me;
    my heart within me is dismayed.
⁵ I remember the days of long ago;
    I meditate on all your works
    and consider what your hands have done.
⁶ I spread out my hands to you;
    I thirst for you like a parched land.^[a]

⁷ Answer me quickly, Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
    or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.
⁹ Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
    for I hide myself in you.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
    in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
¹² In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
    destroy all my foes,
    for I am your servant.