SILENCE DOESN'T FIX ANYTHING

By Danelle Carvell

                                      

Sometimes we need isolation and silence. And sometimes we don't 

 Sometimes it's very difficult to know what God wants you to do. We can pray for guidance, but figuring out which way he wants us to go is confusing at times. I have found myself confused lately by the direction God wants me to take. 

Yesterday was the first I posted anything since April. I believed that God was leading me into a time of rest in preparation for something bigger. I kept hearing confirmation that I should just rest from my blog posts and focus on prayer and reading His word.

Then yesterday I looked at my blog stats and saw that 10,000 people had viewed my posts within this month alone. That amount of page views in a couple weeks has never happened. I was shocked and didn't know what to do with this new turnaround.

My last attempt to post something on this blog back in April was stopped by a complete disappearance of all my hard work on the topic of people who claim that they've been to Heaven. I was fascinated by the similarities in their stories and I had spent hours on the piece before it disappeared from my screen. I took that as a final confirmation that I was supposed to step away from my keyboard. 

Today in my prayer devotional I read an entry titled, "The Power of Voice." It was today's reading in the  monthly devotional, Our Daily Bread. 

"We all possess the capacity to use our voice to inspire and help others," is what I read today. I was encouraged to trust God by saying and doing whatever He commands. And when I ask God how He wants to use me, He will equip me to carry out His purpose. And with His help, I can boldly use my voice to make a positive impact on those around me. 

So I guess I'm back from my time of rest. And from now on, I will be asking God what He wants me to say instead of deciding for myself what the next topic will be. I am constantly learning how I am supposed to follow Him. Maybe my time away from blogging was set aside for me as a time of learning. 

I have been learning about controlling my tongue. I have been learning to pray before confronting a situation. I have been learning about how wrong it is to make a judgment about a person or situation before knowing all the details. I have been learning about allowing people to have emotions and how sometimes people react to things because of a past hurt that resurfaced in that moment. 

I have been learning about the importance of communication, because if I don't communicate, then people don't understand my thinking in a situation. They don't understand why I responded that way. They don't understand why I was confused about something. They don't understand why a certain comment hit me so hard. They don't understand why a certain situation shook me to my core. 

Every experience I have ever had in life is walking around with me every day because I have memories. You have those same memories that influence the way you respond to people and situations. This is why we need to share what we are thinking when a problem arises. 

People who don't share their thinking during a conflict run the risk of being misunderstood. They run the risk of appearing cold and uncaring. They run the risk of a damaged relationship that could have easily been restored by communication. 

Words have so much power. And sometimes we fail to use our words to influence those around us for the better. We need to rely on God's strength and wisdom to speak up. Ask Him to put the right words into your mouth. Ask Him what to say in order to defuse a situation that has become stressful. 

God reminded me today that He wants me to use my voice to bring about positive change. What can you say today that could bring about a positive change in a broken relationship? What words could you say that would remove the tension from a stressful situation? 

The power of voice is the power of encouragement, inspiration, and restoration. The Bible tells us that death and life are in the power of our words. So speak life. Silence doesn't fix anything.