Silence Speaks

Silence.

It is sometimes the best choice and the one that requires the most strength.

It is sometimes the only way to get someone to listen beyond your words.

Keeping lips closed to conversations that you care about, in order to preserve something majestic, suggests wisdom and grace.

You have beliefs. I have beliefs.

You have truths. I have truths.

They do not always align which may not make one superior to the other…simply different.

I have learned that if opening my mouth causes harm or minimizes another, I will choose silence. I have learned that truth must be paired with grace in order for it to create growth. I have learned that the world doesn’t care to hear my opinion if they can’t see my heart through my actions.

So, in the moments where all I feel compelled to share is truth without the presence of grace…my silence IS the grace for the task. Likewise, in the moments where I want to heap only grace without an ounce of truth…I must choose the grace of silence. 

If the words I want to speak are only to validate my belief system or denigrate another’s ….I will choose to be silent.

Controlling the tongue is not a tactic for manipulation nor a tactic for popularity….it is an exercise of faith. An exercise that requires humility coupled with courage because I believe God will grant me moments in time to speak both truth and grace gently into ready ears so that the voice of God can transcend my own. My heart is to “speak only the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.” (Numbers 23:12) My heart is to never de-rail a person’s perception of the gospel by inserting my opinions where they do not belong.

Knowing when to speak and what to say is a prayer that should humbly exist on our lips and the tips of our tongues.  

 © Dani Hardy  June 19, 2019