Silent Nights
Pt. 3 - Home Alone
I. Introduction
Silent night, Holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round your virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep heavenly peace,
Sleep heavenly peace!
Silent Night although it is one of the most popular (top 100) Christmas Songs of all time I am not sure it is really very accurate. Silent Night wasn't silent. Don't stylize the moment with white Christmas or holly hanging over a trough. Think about it only in the natural . . . sheep, cows, stable, full city, and on top of all that labor with no meds, and a baby. It wasn't silent in the natural. It wasn't silent in the supernatural. In fact, because it was the night that the savior of all mankind was being birthed into skin and as John would declare was "moving into our neighborhood, it was in fact one of, if not the loudest nights in history. No, this night was not silent. What was silent was the silence that took place before that night.
God silence. We have glamorized and romanticized that night as a silent night. We love to sing about it and think about it in this manner! However, my problem is that when dealing with God it seems that one silent night often turns into silent nights (plural).
So what must we know about this silent, hard to hear, God? What do we do when we can't hear? So often when we can't hear God we feel alone!
Text: 2 Chronicles 32:1-8
After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself. Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. So many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
20-24 - But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword. So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. And many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter. In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.
27-31- Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks. He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth. It was Hezekiah who stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
This is an interesting account to me. Most of 2 Chronicles 32 is nothing more than a brag session about Hezekiah. He has stepped up as a leader. He has rallied and repaired the people and the city. God has honored his prayers. A imposing enemy is defeated completely. He has been blessed. He prospers. The hand of God enables him so that everything he touches seems to prosper. Great wealth. Silver. Gold. Precious stones. I mean he is TBN ready. He could have gone on tour as a prosperity preacher. It seems that every question He has, every decision is met with direction, every prayer finds response. God is anything but silent in this account. . . until you get to verse 31.
Hezekiah has been so blessed and so successful and he has been so instrumental in the renewal and restoration of the land that the rulers of Babylon send envoys - in this case a fancy word for spies - to see what has taken place. And then in almost a missed statement verse 31 explodes into the account. Answer, miracles, intervention, victories, direction, and now out of nowhere verse 31 says that God goes silent. In fact, verse 31 gives us the clearest definition of what God silence feels like.
"God left him alone!"
Wait a minute I thought Scripture teaches us that God will never leave us or forsake us. True. But this account teaches us a valuable lesson about the silence of God!
He will not leave you but He will leave you alone.
I don't like this statement. It seems mean. It seems hurtful. Haven't you ever felt like God has walked away or left you all by yourself. I mean you thought you heard get married, take job, move, buy, sell, quit and then you obey and then it seems like heaven not only goes silent it goes vacant? You feel abandoned. No one understands. No one knows. Home alone. In pain alone. In valley of decision alone. In war alone. However, we must read past the moment in the statement in the account where it says God left him alone . . . Notice again what it says.
God left him alone . . . only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
Hezekiah has been extremely successful in the volume of God (because we always seem to hear God when things are great) but He suffers in the silence of God.
He fails test! Hezekiah couldn't handle one moment of silence! He trusted God when he could hear God. But the silence so rattles him that he ends up showing the enemy everything in his storehouse. This later (in Isaiah 38-39) leads to an invasion and everything he showed the Babylonians is taken away into captivity!
We fixate on the being left alone moments and fail to realize that God uses silence to reveal what is in our heart. His voice fills us. His silence reveals us.
In other words, if you are in a season of silent nights where you feel home alone you need to know that you are in fact being tested!
Silence is one of God's greatest and most misunderstood and hated teaching techniques.
Chess master and much sought-after mentor, Bruce Pandolfini was asked how he teaches his students. This
is what he said, “My lessons consist of a lot of silence. I listen to other teachers, and they’re always talking...I let my students think. If I do ask a question and I don’t get the right answer, I’ll rephrase the question – and wait. I never give the answer. Most of us really don’t appreciate the power of silence. Some of the most effective communication – between student and teacher, between master players – takes place during silent periods.”
I don't want you to suffer in silence. In the quite of God don't show the enemy everything. Don't invite the enemy into your life. Too many of us lay down our guard. Too many of us lower standards. Too many of us make poor decisions. Too many of us cross lines. Too many of us seek convenience. Too many of us mistake enemies for friends during moments of silence.
Trust God even when you can't trace Him. Realize that if God is silent then He is hasn't left you even if He is intentionally leaving you alone in order to reveal your heart! If you can't hear God it most likely reveals that this a test! The teacher never talks to the student during the test!
Succeed not only in the loud moments but learn to succeed in the silent moments!
Don’t let a season of silence become a season of regret.
This happens when you only base your walk, your obedience, faithfulness on your ability to hear rather than your ability to trust and obey. When God's voice goes quiet you must go on guard so that you don't become susceptible to the voice of man!
Silence is accompanied by the necessity to stay the course!
