Shatter the Silence
When you’re trying to write something, there is nothing more intimidating than a blank page staring at you as you attempt to begin to make words make sense. The strikingly white canvas which dares the artist to pick up their paintbrush can sometimes speak more words than a thousand stories ever could. Imagine opening night for the West End’s latest show. The curtain is lifted, the wings are filled with bodies so excited and yet so nervous at the same time that they have no idea what to do with themselves, the audience wait with baited breath…
I know it’s cliché, but silence really can be deafening, can’t it?
Beginning things can sometimes be the hardest part of any process. Finding that drive, that creative spark or that momentum can only too often be the very moment that causes us to pause. Getting out of the starting blocks is really difficult when you can’t see the finish line.
So instead of starting, we can make excuses can’t we? No one can blame us for making a mess of things if all we’ve done is stand still.
What causes you to stop before you’ve started?
“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”
(Isaiah 42:16)
When we’re blind to what’s next, let’s remember that God is our guide and that He sees all. When we don’t know the route, may we recall that He reigns and when all seems dark, that He lights our path.
Perhaps it isn’t fear or uncertainty of the unknown which make us fearful of shattering the silence. Maybe we just think that any noise we might make won’t be loud enough to be heard above the crowd. Don’t believe that lie!
The Bible tells us that as a church we are ‘one body with many parts’. (1 Corinthians 12:12) This point is proven even further in Romans 12:3-8 when the writer speaks of the various ‘gifts of grace’ which have been given to each of us and how it is our duty to fulfil them. This list speaks of all kinds of roles, from prophecy to service. None is greater than the other. Your contribution to the body is so important. Never doubt that you have something wonderful to give.
In Exodus 4, when Moses questioned why God was calling him, he tried to make excuses. God interrupted by asking a very interesting question indeed.
“What is that in your hand?”
Rather than focussing on the ‘what if’s’ and the ‘how?’ God focused on the now. Moses went on to use that same staff for mighty purposes.
If all you have in your hands right now is that blank page or empty canvas, do something with it! Use what you’ve got and watch what God will do with the rest. You only need to take the next step.