Thoughts

P 2277 The value of silence.

/ DVH

“I stand silently to listen for the One I love, waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me. For God alone has become my Saviour. He alone is my safe place; His wraparound presence always protects me. For He is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyse me, even when troubles multiply around me? 

But look at these who want me dead, shouting their vicious threats at me! The moment they discover my weakness, they all begin plotting to take me down. Liars, hypocrites, with nothing good to say— all their energies are spent on moving me from this exalted place. Pause in His presence. 

I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the One I love, waiting as long as it takes for Him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and He will not fail me. For He alone is my safe place. His wraparound presence always protects me as my champion defender. 

There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyse me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wraparound presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my Hero, and my life-giving strength. Trust only in God every moment! Tell Him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to Him. Believe me when I tell you—He will help you! Pause in His presence” Psalm 62:1-9.

Sometimes the very best response to troubles or difficulties, is silence. There are times when talking about ‘whatever it is’ is the very worst thing we can do. Talking about our problems and trials can magnify them – plus other similar forgotten events can end up tumbling out adding to everyone’s ire. You can end up quite literally talking yourself out of your faith! Plus, why would we want to exalt the works of our enemy? Silence helps us pull focus back into trusting HIM, rather than focussing on the thing that is causing pain.

At one time, Elijah had just completed a major outworking of God’s power through him, right after that, somebody with authority threatened him, so he ran away. Eventually, Elijah ended up standing at the mouth of a cave, wrapped in His prophet’s mantle, waiting for God in silence. Whether you decide to fast, and/ or remove yourself from other people, some spiritual things become much clearer without this world’s distractions. Simply by quieting your thoughts and waiting, clarification comes. 

Psalm 62 has that interesting little word in it, Selah. It means ‘pause and think on this’. Pausing and silence are two of the least mentioned expected attributes of a Christian but they are greatly needed. I’ve found that the Holy Spirit is rarely loud, so if you want to hear Him, you will definitely need to take time to quiet yourself and simply listen. 

At those times it is good to try to soak yourself in His word. I’ve read all the way through an Epistle in one go, often pausing, or quietly thinking. I’m waiting for Him to speak. In times like this, what we are saying, without words, is… ‘I bow before You, Lord.’ Waiting and resting are signs of respect and reverence, as well as acknowledging Him. They help us remember He is God and … we are not! 

I have even been known to fall asleep whilst waiting – I don’t think that matters, my spirit is always on and so is His! There are other times when my mind is way too busy because I am overwhelmed by the enemy’s threats, distractions, and lies. Silence has helped me become more familiar with the Lord’s peace. In the Psalms it says ‘..I have stilled and quietened myself like a weaned child at its mother’s breast..’ BTW, I’m not waiting to get an answer as much as I am preparing myself to hear His answer by clearing away external noise.  

I believe that waiting and remaining in silence is good for us, particularly in today’s busy world. Our world demands that we keep active, busy or distracted most of the time. Sound washes around us everywhere we go until we are saturated in it. This means we could feel overwhelmed when there is complete silence. Silence is not only great for hearing the Lord’s thoughts on a matter – it’s terrific for keeping track of your own! Being silent before Him is like taking a cool shower on a boiling hot day – I always feel refreshed afterwards. 

It took me quite a while to wean myself off noise … I had to deliberately practice it, but eventually I fell in love with this skill. I have started to think noise and busyness can be a place we choose to hide in – instead of confronting our own feelings and facing this life’s dramas. Pausing and being silent is valuable and a great skill to cultivate, I heartily endorse it, because it helps us pull focus. 👋🏻

P 2114 Learn to govern your own thoughts.

/ DVH

“So I say to my soul, “Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be disturbed. For I know my God will break through for me.” Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise Him all over again. Yes, He is my saving grace!” Psalms 42:11 TPT

So, talking to yourself out loud, in public places may not be a good thing – nice large men in white coats might come and get you. 🚑 Fortunately, nowadays, many people have phones in their ears so it may not be quite so obvious when we talk out loud into thin air on a busy street! 😆 However, this Psalmist is not talking about saying stuff out loud – he is talking about internally speaking to his soul. Which is his mind, will and emotions. I talk to my soul a lot – it needs it. However, I don’t talk to my soul out loud in public, be-cau-se those nice men in white coats kinda put me off that!

Most of the time I have to tell my mind to ‘shut up please,’ because it has a habit of reminding me of my own failures, fears and inadequacies, as well as lists of any dumb hurtful things other people have done to me! The bible, however, teaches me to rest, relax and sit down with happier thoughts about the God of all the Universe Who loves me dearly. So, I take this verse: “Whatsoever is good, whatsoever is right, whatsoever is profitable let your mind dwell on these things…” LITERALLY.

BTW, dwell on means live like that, think like this. I have to be honest with you, and say that a lot of the time, I find this scripture very challenging!  My mind wanders off along some well-worn tracks when it comes to some if the people I know, and … not all of those tracks are things that are good, right and excellent. 😶 However, what I have learnt by applying this scripture is this – every time we embrace what the bible says and intentionally apply it into our lives by doing it – what He says becomes stronger than the turmoil.

The Lord calls that in His book … “renewing our mind.” It works like this: I look at what I think, and then I intentionally go and look up what He thinks. It is wise to not get stuck on what I think – that sends me down the path of fear, anger, worry, disappointment and discouragement. I start reminding myself about what the Lord says instead. I see this process like a coin – I can stick with the side of that coin I know very well, or I can become acquainted with the other side and try to find the good in whatever uncomfortable, nasty situation I’ve ended up in! And then I go on from there and pray about something I can do, then I CHOOSE to obey what HE says, and ignore that old record playing in my head. This is a hard thing, but if you can conquer the battle of your thoughts – you can kill a giant! I wonder if that’s why David ran at Goliath shouting??!!

I have learnt, from experience, that our God is extremely generous. Whenever I make even a teen tiny effort to be obedient, I’ve found that He is already running toward me to help me. The thing is, that other guy will try to fool us with remarks that go like this: a/ you are thinking bad thoughts about someone who hurt you because they have been so mean and you are a truly awful person. How could God love me? And:  b/ it is my own fault that I got into this mess in the first place! 😱 Reasons pop up in my mind like daisies on a lawn. 

The Lord has provided us with a better way in His book. This Psalm teaches us that we can talk to our soul and learn to stop embracing the ugly thoughts. Here’s a helpful tip I’ve needed many MANY times! Not every thought in your dear little head is YOURS. The other guy chucks in his evil contribution and because he is so incredibly sneaky so we think it is us. So then we beat ourselves up for being a bad Christian or we agree with him that our life is terrible and it is never going to get better. Agreeing with the other guy is a really bad plan. It is like watching water go down the drain – you can’t get it back. Time is valuable, it is all we have. However, we always need to remember, Jesus can redeem anything.

If we choose to obey what the Lord says in the book and act on it – that produces His strength in our weakness. Meanwhile, the next time we choose to obey, it is easier. It’s like a muscle being strengthened. the more we use it the stronger it gets. So here’s another helpful hint: I’ve found that I cannot build a case against someone else and, at the same time, build one for what the Lord wants. I have to choose to govern my own thoughts, and select which kind of thinking I want to facilitate. That can involve a whole lot of deep breathing! Otherwise I know I will get anxious and start worrying about a whole lot of stuff that doesn’t really matter.

And here is a fantastic scripture to end with: “I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make Me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!”” Psalms 32:8-9. There’s good advice for all of us!

I encourage everyone reading this blog today to start speaking to your soul about any immediate chaos or trouble that has being dogging your heels – because our thoughts and choices are powerful. They change us and they will, over time, change the environment around us. Bye. 👋🏻