Giving advice to God
We can be quick to give God a piece of our minds, and
sometimes it’s OK to bring our thoughts to God as we
speak them. Habakkuk’s story in the Old Testament
demonstrates that God can take our frustration and grief,
our anger and questions. But there comes a point when
we have to recognize that God is God and we are not.
Silence before him acknowledges our rightful place. He
gets the last word, and he gets our worship.
Time and again, the Old Testament prophets called the
people to be silent in God’s presence: “Be not rash with
your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word
before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth.

We can worship God in silence when we look out at
creation and contemplate the grandeur of our Creator. We
can take a walk outside, choosing to forgo headphones
once in a while so we can lift our eyes and tune our ears
to the One who made all we see and hear. We can build
silence into our worship services and corporate prayer
times, letting our words be few as we revere our good and
sovereign God. Whatever their shape and size, words
alone can’t teach us what we most need to know. They
don’t have in them the very breath of God, and they can’t
respond to the deepest cries of our souls. Regularly
practicing silence with our technology and putting our
digital tools in their proper place can reveal our tendency
to idolize them and help us reorient our attention

to the true God.

Be still, +P Ken