A respected father of faith once shared his experience in a gathering. While everyone was talking passionately, he simply kept quiet, watching and taking notes. Later, his wife asked him, “Why didn’t you say anything? You know more than all of them.” He replied with wisdom, “Let them keep talking while I am listening and learning.” He understood the wisdom of silence.
Friend, you must learn the wisdom of silence (Proverbs 10:8, 14). Speaking up has helped many people become successful in life, but not knowing when to keep quiet has put even more people in trouble. It is not just about speaking, but knowing when to speak and when not to. It takes more discipline and restraint to stay silent (James 1:26).
Silence has many advantages. It hides your intentions until they become reality. It also hides your folly from those who will not forgive your mistakes (Proverbs 17:28). Silence helps you to listen and to learn. It will deliver you from the wrong use of your mouth, which can land you in trouble if you don’t use it correctly (Proverbs 15:4).
Just as we have many schools of public speaking, we also need schools of private hearing (1 Samuel 3:1-11). The quality of your speech is often determined by the quality of your silence. The more you learn to listen, the better you will speak. Like Jesus, God needs to awaken your ears to hear before you can have the tongue of the learned (Isaiah 50:4-5).
In the school of faith, silence is as important as speaking (Luke 1:18-20). We speak to manifest spiritual possibilities, but many miracles have also been aborted by wrong speaking. There are no casual words in the realm of the spirit. That is why the angel made Zachariah deaf and dumb. Refuse the urge to always talk (Proverbs 21:23).
Truly, the man who has learned to control his tongue is more powerful than a good speaker (James 3:2). It is what you say that puts you in trouble, not what you refuse to say. You need both trained ears and a trained mouth. You need silence to learn, avoid battles, preserve divine miracles, and hear from God (Habakkuk 2:20). Learn the wisdom of silence today.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria
