When Silence Speaks

Scripture

1 Samuel 3:1–10 KJV 1900

1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4 That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

Intro

I wonder today if there is anyone under the sound of my voice the feels like they are going through a slinet season

As I began to prepare for this service it was different

Okay I am going to be fully transparent with you

Normally I have ideas or titles planned out a week or more in advance

But this week as I began to prepare for today’s service all my notes and thoughts that I had just didn’t seem to fit

They didn’t feel right

So I would go tp bed and say God I need you to speak to me on what you want me to say

And if I am honest with you today I never felt God say anything

Now that’s a scary place to be for anyone but for your Pastor it is terrifying because I know that I am supposed to be this representation of what God is saying to us today

And up to this point I hadn’t heard it

and that lasted until I realized that that is what I felt like God was speaking to me about was silence

Now I don’t know about you but one of the worst punishments you can give me is the silent treatment

I don’t like it, I would rather you chew me out from head to toe than sit there and not speak

Because I want to know where I stand

bear with me today I am going somewhere

But I realized that there are going to be times in my walk with God where there are silent periods

I may not like or appreciate them but they are a part of life

But i have come to find that my favorite part of the silent treatment is when its over

When the voice speaks again

So for a little while I want to minister to you on this subject

“When Silence Speaks”

Body

Israel was a nation that from it’s very foundation depended on the voice of God

In Genesis we read that God spoke to Abram and said I want you to get out of Ur of Chaldees and go to a place that I will show you

Now what follows this word from God that challenged him to move was silence

Imagine that with me for a moment

You come to church on Sunday and the Holy Ghost is flowing freely and you hear the voice of God tell you I want you to go out on the mission field and I will show you where to go and the next morning you wake up and all you hear s crickets

You come to church on Sunday and we have throwdown service and God gives you a charge to do something great for the kingdom and the moment you step out in faith to do it silence

Abram leaves the comfort of his family and his life at the word of God

Finds himself in a strange land and in chapter 15 promises him that his seed would be as numerable as the stars

This is at 86 years old so Bishop God isn’t finished talking with you yet either

and depending on which theologian you read we find a period of 13-15 years where there is no evidence of God speaking to Abram

And what we find is a man that some 13=15 years does not hear from God

This man had learned tolean on God, to count on his word and on his guidance

This man that has grown to lean and depend so much on the voice of God. God goes silent on him.

God does not go silent for six days, for six hours, for six months.

No, there’s a pocket — thirteen, sixteen years.

fourteen to fifteen years of silence. No maps. No clarity. God, no emotional encouragement, no grand confirmations.

Between fourteen and fifteen years, a man that has become so dependent on the voice of God, heaven goes silent.

And for fourteen to fifteen years, Abraham, with no maps and no clarity and no voice and no confirmation, just obeys.

He just obeys.

No lightning, no thunder, nothing shaking the ground, no grand visitation.

It’s silence.

Heaven goes silent. Heaven goes quiet.

And after this period of between fourteen and fifteen years with no maps, where Abraham simply obeys, God finally speaks to him again.

And when God chooses to speak to him after heaven goes silent for this long, this is when and only when God calls him Abraham.

The promotion from Abram to Abraham hinged.

The promotion from Abram to Abraham was preceded by a season of silence.

I’ve got to know what you’re going to do when I go quiet.

When you can’t feel anything, when you can’t see anything.

It’s quite possible, at least in my estimation, this is part of what the writer is alluding to when he says he staggered not at the promises of God.

He didn’t go back to the cold wooden statues or stone statues that had been crafted in his father’s shops.

In the silence, Abraham simply stayed.

And God says, “That’s a man that I can trust with promotion. That’s a man that I can trust with the masses. That’s a man. Y

ou want to talk about the sand of the seashores and the stars of the sky. You want to talk about God giving us dominion and God expanding our borders. That’s a man. That’s a man I can move. That’s a man that I can give more authority to. That’s a man that I can lengthen his influence.”

But before God does that, this is preceded by a season of silence.

And while we’re stomping our foot and demanding clarity, we want clarity.

And while we want clarity, what God wants is communion.

Will you keep building altars when you can’t feel anything?

Will you keep raising your hands when you can’t hear anything?

And I wonder today if silence is what breaks the addiction to spiritual stimulation.

Pentecostals get sucked in.

They get trapped into constantly having to be spiritually stimulated in order to keep going.

Preachers have become life coaches.

Pastors have become pseudo-psychiatrists.

Church services have become emotional calisthenics.

And we get so used feeling and expecting God to move, and don’t get me wrong today I always expect God to do something in our services

But we have gotten to the point that if we don’t see the miraculous or if we don’t baptize or somebody is not receiving the Holy Ghost for the first time then we walk out disappointed

But I want to ask you today how will you respond in silence

Come on it’s easy to worship when everyone else is worshipping

And it’s easy to lift Holy Hands on Sunday with everybody else

But will you keep building altars when God is not speaking

It’s easy to praise Him at church but will you build altars when you have to go back to work?

Sometimes it’s because we’ve become so fascinated with the prophetic that the only thing to clean our palette is silence

Friend let me tell you some of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned came from silence

Because sometimes God has to break our dependance on prophetic assurance

Sometimes he has to break our dependance on miracles

Let me tell you Preachers feel the pressure to perform to feed to help

And sometimes it would appear as though God slows us down enough to remind us that our relationship is not based on all the tangible things

And if you don’t hear anything else I say today, listen to this one word

Silence proceeds promotion

Silence seeks to sear

It wants to take out that dependance on emotional worship moments

worship is not about making me feel better.

Worship is because he's worthy.

Worship is because he's good.

And sometimes church God is looking at us and asking will you worship me when you can’t see me

Will you worship me when you can’t feel me

Will you worship me when you can’t hear me

 When are we going to get to the place that the last word was enough for us

And I'm going to live on the last word.

I'm gonna stay in the last word.

I'm going to trust God with the last word.

And we’re in a generation that wants God’s strength, but they don’t want His silence.

Making sense of the silence.

You better hear me emphatically today.

Silence, when heaven goes quiet, is not a sign of His absence.\

There is a pattern I see in Scripture every time I pick my Bible up to read that many of us miss.\

Before the miracle, before the breakthrough, before the calling is confirmed, there is usually a season of silence.

And we see it again in the life of Samuel.

The Bible says in 1 Samuel 3:1:

“And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”

That word precious means it was rare.

It was scarce.

It was not common.

In other words, Israel was in a season where heaven had gotten quiet.

There was temple activity.

There was religious routine.

There were priests still wearing priestly garments.

There were lamps still burning.

There were sacrifices still being offered.

There was still structure.

There was still a building.

There was still ministry.

But the word of the Lord was rare.

God help us.

Because one of the most dangerous places you can ever be is when you have religious activity without divine direction.

You can have a temple and still not have a word.

You can have a priesthood and still not have clarity.

You can have lamps and still not have revelation.

You can have motion and still not have a message.

And I wonder if one of the reasons God had gone quiet in Samuel’s day was because the house of Eli had become too familiar with holy things.

Eli’s sons had abused the sacrifice.

They had dishonored the house of God.

They had treated sacred things casually.

And when sacred things become casual, the voice of God becomes rare.

That is heavy.

Because sometimes silence is not just God testing us.

Sometimes silence is God trying to get our attention.

Sometimes silence is God saying, “You have gotten used to the lamp, but you are not listening for My voice.”

You have gotten used to church.

You have gotten used to songs.

You have gotten used to sermons.

You have gotten used to altars.

You have gotten used to the moving of the Spirit.

But are you still listening?

Are you still sensitive?

Are you still submitted?

Are you still able to say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth”?

The Bible says Eli’s eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see.

And I do not want to overreach the text, but I do believe there is something prophetic in that picture.

The priest’s eyes were dim.

The word was rare.

The vision was not open.

And the lamp of God was about to go out.

That is what happens when a generation loses sensitivity to the voice of God.

Vision gets dim.

The word gets rare.

The lamp starts flickering.

But I like what the Bible says.

It says:

“And ere the lamp of God went out…”

Before the lamp went out completely, God started calling a child.

Before the flame died, God raised up a voice.

Before the silence became permanent, God found somebody who could still respond.

That is why you cannot despise young Samuel.

He did not know everything yet.

He did not understand the voice yet.

He did not even know at first that it was God calling him.

But at least he responded.

God would rather work with somebody who does not know everything but is responsive than somebody who has been around the temple for years and has lost sensitivity.

Samuel hears his name and runs to Eli.

“Here am I; for thou calledst me.”

Eli says, “I called not; lie down again.”

And he goes and lies down.

Then God calls again.

“Samuel.”

And Samuel gets up again.

He runs again.

“Here am I; for thou didst call me.”

And Eli says, “I called not, my son; lie down again.”

Then God calls the third time.

And Samuel gets up again.

This is what grips me.

Samuel did not yet recognize the voice of God, but he kept responding to what he thought was the call.

He did not understand everything, but he was available.

He did not have perfect discernment yet, but he had a willing spirit.

He did not know the voice yet, but he knew how to answer.

And some of us are waiting on God to explain everything before we respond.

But Samuel teaches us that sometimes your response precedes your revelation.

Sometimes you obey before you understand.

Sometimes you keep getting up even when you are not sure what God is doing.

Sometimes you keep saying, “Here am I,” until somebody with wisdom helps you recognize, “That is not man calling you. That is God.”

And finally Eli perceives that the Lord had called the child.

So Eli says, “Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”

And Samuel went and lay down in his place.

That phrase matters.

He went and lay down in his place.

Not in Eli’s place.

Not in somebody else’s place.

Not where he wished he was.

Not where he thought he should be.

He went back to his place.

Because sometimes the voice of God will not meet you in somebody else’s place.

It will meet you when you are faithful in your place.

Your place may feel small.

Your place may feel hidden.

Your place may feel overlooked.

Your place may feel like a quiet room in the middle of a silent season.

But if God knows where you are, He knows how to speak your name.

And the Bible says:

“And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.”

I love that.

God did not just call.

The Lord came and stood.

So silence was not absence.

God was there the whole time.

Samuel just had to learn how to hear Him.

And when the voice came again, Samuel answered:

“Speak; for thy servant heareth.”

Not, “Speak, Lord, and I will decide if I like it.”

Not, “Speak, Lord, and I will see if it fits my plans.”

Not, “Speak, Lord, and I will obey if it feels good.”

But, “Speak; for thy servant heareth.”

That is the posture that breaks the silence.

Not demand.

Not entitlement.

Not stomping my foot saying, “God, I need clarity right now.”

But surrender.

“Speak, Lord.”

Not, “Explain, Lord.”

Not, “Perform, Lord.”

Not, “Prove Yourself, Lord.”

“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”

And I wonder how many times God has been waiting on us to stop demanding explanations and start offering availability.

Because while we want clarity, God wants communion.

While we want answers, God wants surrender.

While we want direction, God wants a servant who will hear.

The silence in Samuel’s day was not the end of the voice of God.

It was the transition to a new voice.

It was the ending of one season and the beginning of another.

The word was rare, but it was not gone.

The vision was not open, but God was not finished.

The lamp was low, but it had not gone out.

And I came to tell somebody: just because the lamp is flickering does not mean the fire is finished.

Just because the word has been rare does not mean God has retired His voice.

Just because it has been quiet does not mean heaven has abandoned you.

Sometimes silence is the room where God teaches you how to hear Him differently.

Abraham had to learn how to obey in silence.

Samuel had to learn how to listen in silence.

And maybe some of us are in a season where God is not trying to punish us.

He is trying to train our ear.

Because if God is going to trust you with a word, He first has to teach you how to hear.

If God is going to trust you with a calling, He first has to teach you how to respond.

If God is going to trust you with promotion, He first has to know what you will do when heaven gets quiet.

Transition Toward Calvary

And then there is no silence in Scripture heavier than the silence of Jesus.

Because we like to talk about the words Jesus spoke.

And we should.

He spoke to storms, and waves laid down.

He spoke to devils, and they came out.

He spoke to sickness, and bodies were healed.

He spoke to Lazarus, and death had to let him go.

He spoke to sinners, and mercy walked into their shame.

He spoke to religious leaders, and truth exposed their hypocrisy.

Never man spake like this man.

But what do you do with a Jesus who does not answer?

What do you do when the Word made flesh stays silent?

Isaiah prophesied it:

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter…” — Isaiah 53:7

Before Pilate.

Before Herod.

Before accusers.

Before mockers.

Before people lying on Him.

Before people twisting His words.

Before people demanding an answer.

Jesus knows what it is to be silent.

There were moments when He could have defended Himself.

He could have corrected every lie.

He could have answered every accusation.

He could have called twelve legions of angels.

He could have opened His mouth and shut down the entire courtroom.

But He did not.

Because sometimes silence is not weakness.

Sometimes silence is strength under control.

Sometimes silence is obedience on display.

Sometimes silence is the sound of surrender to a greater purpose.

They thought His silence meant He was defeated.

They thought His silence meant He had no answer.

They thought His silence meant heaven had abandoned Him.

But His silence was speaking.

His silence was saying, “I am not here to save Myself.”

His silence was saying, “I am here to save them.”

His silence was saying, “I will not come down from this cross because love is holding Me here.”

His silence was saying, “There is a purpose bigger than My pain.”

And there are times in your life when you want God to defend you immediately.

You want Him to answer every critic.

You want Him to explain every misunderstanding.

You want Him to shut every mouth.

You want Him to prove every liar wrong.

But Jesus teaches us that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is stay surrendered in silence and let the will of God speak louder than your defense.

Because if Jesus had answered every accusation, He still would have had to go to the cross.

If Jesus had defended Himself before every critic, He still would have had to shed His blood.

If Jesus had explained Himself to everyone who misunderstood Him, He still would have had to die.

So He was silent.

But when He did speak, every word mattered.

That is what I want you to see.

Silence makes the spoken word heavier.

When someone talks all the time, words can become common.

But when someone has been silent, and then they finally speak, everybody leans in.

And on the cross, Jesus did not waste words.

He spoke forgiveness:

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” — Luke 23:34

He spoke salvation:

“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” — Luke 23:43

He spoke responsibility:

“Woman, behold thy son!… Behold thy mother!” — John 19:26-27

He spoke anguish:

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” — Matthew 27:46

He spoke humanity:

“I thirst.” — John 19:28

He spoke completion:

“It is finished.” — John 19:30

He spoke surrender:

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” — Luke 23:46

He was silent through the accusations, but when He spoke from the cross, He spoke redemption.

And that is how God works.

He may be silent for a season, but when He speaks, His word carries weight.

He may not answer when you wanted Him to answer.

He may not speak in the moment you demanded clarity.

He may not explain Himself when you felt like you deserved an explanation.

But when silence speaks, it does not speak empty.

It speaks purpose.

It speaks promise.

It speaks correction.

It speaks direction.

It speaks redemption.

It speaks, “It is finished.”

Heavy Closing: When Silence Speaks

So I came to preach to somebody today who is living between the last word and the next word.

You are not rebellious.

You are not backslid.

You are not trying to walk away from God.

You are just trying to make sense of the silence.

You remember when God spoke.

You remember when the word was clear.

You remember when the altar was easy.

You remember when worship came naturally.

You remember when every service seemed to hit you in the heart.

But now it feels quiet.

No maps.

No clarity.

No emotional encouragement.

No grand confirmation.

Just silence.

And the enemy wants you to think silence means absence.

But Abraham says, “Silence can precede promotion.”

Samuel says, “Silence can train your ear.”

And Jesus says, “Silence can still be surrendered to the will of God.”

Do not mistake silence for abandonment.

Do not mistake quiet for rejection.

Do not mistake the absence of feeling for the absence of God.

He may be silent, but He is still sovereign.

He may be quiet, but He is still present.

He may not be explaining, but He is still working.

He may not be giving you a map, but He is still ordering your steps.

So what do you do when silence speaks?

You do what Abraham did.

You obey.

You keep walking.

You keep building altars.

You keep trusting the last word.

You do what Samuel did.

You go back to your place.

You keep your heart tender.

You keep your ears open.

You say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”

You do what Jesus did.

You stay surrendered.

You refuse to let accusation pull you out of purpose.

You refuse to let pain make you abandon the will of God.

You refuse to come down from the cross God called you to carry.

Because silence is not always empty.

Sometimes silence is testing.

Sometimes silence is training.

Sometimes silence is transition.

Sometimes silence is where God breaks your addiction to stimulation.

Sometimes silence is where God finds out if you love Him for who He is or only for what He says.

Will you worship when you cannot feel Him?

Will you pray when you cannot hear Him?

Will you obey when you cannot see Him?

Will you stay when you do not have clarity?

Will you keep building altars when the heavens are quiet?

Because if you can survive the silence, there is another word coming.

Abram became Abraham after silence.

Samuel became a prophet after silence.

And after the silence of Calvary, Jesus spoke, “It is finished.”

Then there was another silence.

His body went into a tomb.

For three days, it looked like heaven had gone quiet again.

No preaching.

No miracles.

No footsteps in Galilee.

No voice crying in the temple.

Just a sealed stone.

A guarded tomb.

A silent Saturday.

But silence was not the end.

Because early Sunday morning, when God got ready to speak again, He did not just speak with words.

He spoke with resurrection.

And the stone rolled away.

And death lost its grip.

And hell lost its keys.

And the grave lost its prisoner.

So do not quit in the silence.

Do not walk away in the silence.

Do not go back to idols in the silence.

Do not lose your consecration in the silence.

Do not stop praying in the silence.

Do not stop worshiping in the silence.

Do not stop coming to the house of God in the silence.

Because silence is not the final word.

God is.

And when silence speaks, it may be saying, “Keep walking.”

It may be saying, “Keep listening.”

It may be saying, “Keep surrendering.”

It may be saying, “Trust the last word.”

But sooner or later, the voice will speak again.

And when He speaks, it will be worth every quiet season you had to endure.

So today, this altar is for everyone who has been living in silence.

Come back to your place.

Come back to the altar.

Come back to surrender.

Come back to prayer.

Come back to the last word God gave you.

And lift your hands, even if you do not feel anything.

Open your mouth, even if you do not hear anything.

And say what Samuel said:

“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”