A long time ago I was taught that one of the most difficult things to do as a teacher is to use silence. When you ask a question it is important to allow for silence. We want to rush in and fill the silence (especially in our culture), but it is important to allow people to think, process those thoughts, and then formulate a response. If we rush in we kill the opportunity for people to think and process.
We kill the teachable moment.
I was thinking about this a few weeks ago and it hit me that there is a similar process in our spiritual lives as well. We need the space to process what God is doing in our lives, but too often we rush to fill the silence instead of paying attention to what He’s doing.
And we kill the teachable moment.
This is becoming more and more important in my walk. God wants to speak, but too often I am too busy to listen. He wants a moment of silence and I keep trying to fill the silence. I complain that I can’t hear God, but I keep the volume of my life so amped up I couldn’t hear a 747 fly by. And God is in the still moments far more often than He is in the commotion (see 1 Kings 19:11-13). He wants us to quiet down and listen.
I am trying, but it is hard. It goes against my natural tendencies. But I want to hear His voice and I don’t want to miss what He is trying to teach me.
I don’t want to kill the teachable moments in my spiritual life.
