A Moment of Silence

My desire is that as you read this devotional book you will come to find that there is hope and a solution to your situation. God is bigger than any giant that can come your way.

Each thought in this book comes from life experiences; this is why I can testify that in the midst of pain He is present; and even when you feel alone He is with you. I have always held fast to these words that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (NIV). What a powerful promise! Jesus himself tells us that we'll have troubles and will face obstacles, but the solution is to just trust Him. Why? Because He has overcome the world and if Jesus lives in us, that means that we too will overcome the world. What an amazing hope our Lord gives us in His word!

My prayer is that God strengthens you to continue pushing through, that you will continue to walk by faith and place your trust in the One who can give you the peace that surpasses all understanding. Although you may be going through a situation that you don’t quite understand, take a moment of silence and you will see how God will speak to you and clarify the questions you might have. Keep believing and trusting in the promises He has made to you; because if there is something that I'm sure of, it’s that He is faithful and truthful and His word will not return empty. If God has given you a word, cling to it because your eyes will see the fulfillment of His promise. Commit your ways to the Lord and allow Him to fulfill the purpose He has designed for your life.

I would like to start by explaining the title of this book. A Moment of Silence was the title that the Lord gave me when I embarked on this project, with the sole purpose of giving hope to all those who are believing and waiting to receive a word from the Lord. The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (NIV Psalm 46:10).

If we truly want to hear the voice of God we need to go to a place of solitude and simply pay close attention to what He wants to say. Everyone should have a secret place, a particular space where we can come into His presence. I'm not only saying that we must go to church and pray at the altar or the in pew, but that we must have a hiding place at home. A place that we can say, “This is my secret place where I connect with God's presence to speak with Him, and also to listen.” If you want to listen to God, go to that place of intimacy and, if you open your spiritual ears and listen carefully you can hear what He wants to say.

The Bible teaches us that one way to know God is simply being still to hear His voice, and when we hear it, recognize that He is God. But sometimes we find it so difficult to be still; the demand of life, chores and responsibilities of this very fast-paced society limits us.

If you truly want to discover God's purpose for your life, take a moment of silence. So often we come before Him to petition and complain. “I want this, I need that,” and our intimate time with Him becomes a one-way conversation. We don’t give God the opportunity to speak to us. Well, He wants to talk to us too! Take a moment of silence and you will understand what He wants to say to you.

“Be still, and know that I am God,” means that in the midst of what you are going through, God says, “I have a plan!” In the midst of your circumstances, the Lord says, “I have a solution. I have a purpose for your life and I want to reveal it to you as you stay still, give me a moment of silence. Are you willing to be silent and listen to me?”

I’d like you to meditate on the following. What do we do when we remember a loved one that has passed away? We give a moment of silence. Why? We take the time to respect and honor that person.

Let’s honor God giving Him moments of silence, because it’s in those moments that He speaks to us, reveals Himself and shows us His purpose. But nowadays we live busy lives and are easily distracted by our daily routine and not giving God our full attention, as we should. When we are silent in the presence of God, then He speaks loud and clear! When we hear the voice of God there is no confusion, no mistake, there is no miscommunication. No! Because we know who He is and we can recognize His voice. The Bible declares in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (NIV).

John 10:14 also says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” If God is our Shepherd and we are His sheep, we'll be able to discern His voice. When we become anxious with the things happening in our lives and we don’t take time out for God, we miss out on the moments of silence and intimacy with Him, and we end up hearing other voices that are not from God. We hear the voice of the enemy, the world, doubt, fear of condemnation, failure, depression and stress. We must learn to discern the voice of God. There are so many voices, but there's only one voice that gives us peace, love, faith, strength, power, hope, happiness, and success. The voice of God gives us this and much more!

The Bible tells us of a man named Elijah who was instructed by God to go to a mountain, in other words, “Go and wait, I'll be there.” Elijah had to fine-tune his spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear, discern how God was going to come to him.

We often think that God will work in a particular way in our lives and then the opposite happens. We think He will probably talk to us as He always does, but maybe God has a different way of doing it. We cannot put God in a mold and expect Him to do things our way. He does what He wants, when He wants and how He wants to do it!

Let's see what scripture says in 1 Kings 19:11-12 “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper! Maybe He just didn’t tell him what he was expecting, right? Nor did He say it in the way he expected, it wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in the stillness of a gentle whisper.

If you've been waiting for an answer from God and still haven’t heard anything, you need to lower the noise volume surrounding you! He is trying to whisper the answer to your problem. Listen, because the solution might be in the gentle whisper. I like how verse 12 says, “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” Dear reader, God speaks in the silence, we just have to listen. A Moment of Silence will give you direction and clarity. If Elijah hadn’t focused and paid attention, perhaps he would’ve been confused with the other voices, the wind, the earthquake or the fire, and he would’ve missed his opportunity.

Don’t miss God’s blessing in your life for not distinguishing His voice, the voice gives your life direction and guidance to the destiny He has prepared for you. Don’t let Him pass you by. It may be that through a moment of silence you’ll receive your miracle, your health, your provision, and your answer.