Shutting Up

The difficulties in knowing when and how to shut up have been on my mind a lot this week. Since last weekend I have found it difficult to shut up. All I want to do is talk about the RADICAL change that has taken place in my life and what God can do of the lives of the unbelievers. I have found that this ruffles quite a few feathers– I guess I somewhat expected people to be more open to hearing about something so wonderful, but I can't help but remember my own fears. Now, after a week of having this endless urge to share what I have found, I am feeling discouraged by the responses I have gotten. I keep trying to remind myself however, that I SHOULD be ruffling up some feathers. We are called to be lights in a dark world. We should look awkward, out of place, different, and maybe a little bit crazy! But then I have fears of pushing people away. If I don't shut up, maybe they won't want to be friends anymore because they find it annoying, offensive, or just don't care. But nowhere in the Bible does it say I should worry about these things! So regarding my first dilemma regarding shutting up, I will chose not to. I want to know that I have done absolutely everything I can to further the cause of Christ.

A second issue with shutting up is when it comes to listening, to God and to others. In this regard, I need to practice the whole shutting-up thing. It is SO easy to want to fill the silences with our own words but God wants to use those to fill our hearts with His words. Notice I said I need to PRACTICE this. It's not something that I will learn overnight or from going to church, but only by deciding to quiet myself, daily, in order for Him to be heard.

What about wanting other people to shut up? I've had my fair share of struggles with that this past week. There are certain people in my life that I find difficult to love, and often times, I just wish they would shut up. But each and every one of them is intentionally created by God, therefore I need to learn to love them the best way I can. My prayer this week is that I can find ways to love these people in my life for who they are, not who I wish they would be, and to open my mind and heart to see the purpose God has for placing them in my life.

Luke 6:27

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Mark 12:30-31

³⁰ And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’^[a] This is the first commandment.^[b

^{31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[a] There is no other commandment greater than these.” ]}

"The flowers of the field are dying to be heard..."

Luke 19:40 (King James Version)

 ⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

So until I no longer have a mouth capable of speaking His praise and glorifying His name, I will not "hold my peace." Satan wants me to believe that I am annoying people, that I will lose my friends, and that I am wasting my time, but I know that silence will do nothing to further the kingdom of God and if I chose not to work towards that goal, what is my point in continuing to breathe?

One last thing to mention about shutting up, it's been over a week now since I have turned the tv on for anything. This is an easy way to shut up some of the distractions in your life! I hung a painting over mine so that I would constantly be reminded not to become entranced by the nothingness that is called tv. I had set a goal to go without for a week and I looked to see what to turn on tonight and there was absolutely nothing worth watching, so the painting is staying up! My next challenge, shutting up Facebook! Think I can handle a week without both?

Luke 6:22-23 (NIV)
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in the day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.