“But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
The commander of the mighty Assyrian army is “talking trash” to the Jews who are on the wall guarding their city. And he’s speaking in their language to frighten them. Yet the people just sit there and look at him.
I imagine this concerned the commander. It is informative when people heatedly argue with you… it is also informative when they don’t honor your comments with a response… Like the little dog that barks and barks as compared to the pit bull that just looks at you and confidently waits for you to come into his yard. Which one are you? ...How do you respond when faced with taunts from the enemy? Do you exude confidence, or uncertainty and agitation?
The one thing you never see in scripture is God panicking... In fact, you never see Him being surprised. Can we live in that confidence? Can we sit on the wall surrounded by the enemy, secure and silent in the power of the King we serve?
How differently would the world view the church today if we refused to join in their panic? It wouldn’t be sermons, music, or programs that attracted people… it would be our peaceful confidence that would draw them like moths to a flame.
So, before you go out today and angrily argue with your “opponents” consider your motivation for quarreling… Is it because of your own anxiety that you need to win the debate?… or are you lovingly trying to give them truth and relieve their fears?
I suggest that as they tell you their theories of devastation that you look past the surface and see the anxiety that drives their lives. Your theory is not going to replace theirs… So, either answer in love, or don’t answer at all.
Fear doesn’t come from God (2 Timothy 1:7) so just let your peace and confidence in the Lord get their attention… Because in every circumstance only faith in the Father can grant sustainable peace. Sometimes it is best to just sit on the wall in silence and let God respond in His own time.
“You do not know the gospel, dear friends, if you have not obtained peace through it; peace is the juice, the essence, the soul of the gospel.” - Charles Spurgeon
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