Room For Silence

[WalterandDebbie]

Friday 7-21-23 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, AV 3 5783, 31st. Summer Day

Read: 1 Kings 19:9-14 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 29–30; Acts 23:1–15

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After the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:12

If you like peace and quiet, there’s a room in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that you’ll love. It absorbs 99.99 percent of all sound! The world-famous anechoic (echo-free) chamber of the Orfield Laboratories has been called the “quietest place on earth.” People who want to experience this soundless space are required to sit down to avoid getting disoriented by the lack of noise, and no one has ever been able to spend more than forty-five minutes in the room.
Few of us need that much silence. Yet we do sometimes long for a little quiet in a loud and busy world.

Even the news we watch and the social media we ingest bring a kind of clamorous “noise” that competes for our attention. So much of it is infused with words and images that stir up negative emotions. Immersing ourselves in it can easily drown out the voice of God.
When the prophet Elijah went to meet God on the mountain of Horeb, he didn’t find Him in the loud, destructive wind or in the earthquake or in the fire (1 Kings 19:11–12). It wasn’t until Elijah heard a “gentle whisper” that he covered his face and ventured out of the cave to meet with “the Lord God Almighty” (vv. 12–14).

Your spirit may well be craving quiet but—even more so—it may be yearning to hear the voice of God. Find room for silence in your life so you’ll never miss God’s “gentle whisper” (v. 12).
What are some ways God communes with His children? Why is it vital to regularly communicate with Him?
Loving Father, quiet my heart and mind so I’m ready to meet with You today.

INSIGHT​

Elijah, whose name means “my God is Yahweh,” ministered to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the twenty-two-year reign of Ahab (874–853 bc). Ahab, together with his Sidonese wife Jezebel, led the Israelites to worship Baal and murdered God’s prophets (1 Kings 16:29–34; 18:4). Elijah’s prophetic ministry is exemplified when he confronted 450 of Baal’s prophets on Mount Carmel, demonstrating that Yahweh is the one true God and calling Israel back to Him (18:16–21). Elijah didn’t die but was taken into heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1, 11). At the transfiguration of Jesus, he appeared with Moses (Matthew 17:3).

By Cindy Hess Kasper|July 21st, 2023

God, Fellowship with 1 Kings Nineteen:9-14

9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Love, Walter And Debbie

 

[amadeus]

@WalterandDebbie

And a slightly different perspective on silence:

Ec 3:1,7 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ec 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; Ecc 3:1,7

1co 14:27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

1co 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. I Cor 14:27-28

Mt 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Matt 7:6

Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:8

Ps 39:1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

Ps 39:2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. Psalm 39:1-2

Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Isaiah 53:7

Mt 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?

Mt 27:14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Matt 27:13-14

Ac 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

Mt 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Mt 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matt 12:36-37