Silent Whispers

Communication is a vital part of building and nurturing any relationship. I love to communicate by talking,  especially with the people I hold close to my heart. For a long time, I wondered why my husband just would not talk, or when he did, why he spoke only a few words. Being the super expressive talker that I am, I often found this very frustrating! Then I found out my second son was just like him! For the other two children, I sometimes have to tell them to stop talking for a minute so I can think. On the other hand, everyone in the house stops to listen with strained ears when my second son finally braces up to say something! It is this son that is the subject of my reflection today.

A while ago, as we had our shared family time,the light bulbs finally went off for me! I must confess that I was at a different place at the time. I had come to the place of quietness in my heart. I was reaching out to God to help me reach my children, and I was listening in my spirit for God’s leading.Then I saw it! My son who I thought rarely spoke a thing, was speaking a lot during the family time, he just was not using audible words.He was speaking with the arching of his eye brows, the snapping of his fingers, the nodding of his head, the shrugging of his shoulders.In that moment, I realized that he had been doing those things all along. Even though he did not say a lot, he spoke volumes! I was the one who did not understand his language! And you know what was funny? His siblings understood him thoroughly! In fact there was a dialogue going on! They would respond verbally to his non-verbal expressions with a laugh, a question, or a remark. At some point I had to ask them what the conversation was, and they graciously explained it all to me. I just sat there and wondered, how could I have missed this all along?

Perhaps like me, you are blessed with a spouse, a child, or someone dear to you heart that does not talk much, and you have come to your wit’s end trying to decipher what they have on their mind. Perhaps you should pray for the Holy Spirit to help you decode their language. God, being gracious, will open your eyes to see things about them you have not seen or understood before. He will help you to be tuned in to the frequency of their communication wavelength. Suddenly, you will see and understand the arching of the brows, you will hear the unspoken whispers, you will feel the desperate yearning of their hearts.  I never thought I would say this, but it is okay to respond to unspoken words. Who cares for words when the heart has spoken so loudly?

The Lord responded to Sarah’s unspoken doubts after He gave Abraham a sure word of promise regarding the birth of their son Isaac;   Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’…(Genesis 18: 11-13). Sarah did not share her doubts with Abraham, “she laughed to herself” But in asking that question, God made Abraham aware of what his wife was really saying . It was Abraham’s duty to take it up from there; For how can two walk together except they be agreed?

If you do not know how to proceed in communication with that person in your life, ask God. "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5). God is interested in our relationships and He wants to help us build lasting relationships, so that our human connections will be an avenue to allow His purpose ad His will to be done on the earth, just as it is in Heaven.

The heavens declare the glory of God;  the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;  night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world (Psalm 19: 1- 4).