“So do not pray for
this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in
the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.” (Jeremiah 11: 14)
Often, people take
arguments personally. When you actively dispute
their position, they take it to mean that you don’t like them--- personally don’t
like them. But that’s not necessarily
so, especially if your argument is the honest exposition of God’s Word.
God told Ezekiel, “Son
of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a
word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me. (Ezekiel 3: 17)
God sent Ezekiel to
argue with Israel because God wanted Israel to change, because if Israel
changed then God could help them.
When the prophets are loud, it means that God is offering
mercy instead of destruction.
On the other hand, people
tend to think that when you stop audibly disagreeing with them that it means
they won the argument
Not necessarily so. Sometimes it means that you’re just through
arguing with this fool and you’re just gone leave them to continue in their
foolishness and bear the consequences of it.
Like when God told
Moses, “Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them
and I may consume them.” (Exodus 32: 10)
Silence doesn’t mean
consent. And prophetic silence, means
exactly the opposite. Prophetic silence means that God has turned
against you so thoroughly that He doesn’t even want to talk about it.
There are men and
women of God who truly live for the Lord and who speak His Truth with accuracy
and integrity. They speak the same
things, confirming that they are led by the same Spirit.
When all or a bunch
of them suddenly go quiet----- that’s when you need to be afraid, very afraid.
When they’ve been warning
you and warning you about the path you’re on and they just suddenly shut
up----- it doesn’t mean that you’ve won them over to your side. It means that God has told them to let it go
and move out of the way.
But we don’t see it
that way. We think we’ve won the “cultural
argument,” “shifted cultural discourse in our favor,” or “isolated the
opposition.”
But consider the people who are quiet now.
Do they say what’s popular, or do
they say what God tells them to say?
And if they speak God’s Word, don’t you think they’ll also keep God’s silence?
When the prophets
are loud, it means that God is offering mercy instead of destruction. When
the prophets go silent, it means that God is pissed off.
And it is a dreadful
thing to fall into the hands of a silent God.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T.
Graves II is pastor of
Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization
(SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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Support by check or
money order may be mailed to
Hall Memorial CME
Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
