I haven't written a single word on this blog in almost a year. Complete silence. Perhaps the challenges of 2020 and beyond have kept me busier than usual. Or perhaps the same challenges have made me lazier than usual. Well, in my defence nobody else had something to say... or was wondering why I am saying nothing at all. Complete silence.
As a full blooded woman with the exact amount of hormones and emotions that come with womanhood, I know that God hasn't created us as silent beings. He has crowned His daughters with a more-than-adequate dose of authority, dignity and passion to say something and voice an opinion. How are we using this most precious gift that God has instilled in our being? What are we saying? How are we saying it? Are we saying it?
In my silent time (somewhere in the midst of this silent year when I had lots to say but said nothing) I had plenty of time to read random Bible passages and spend quality time in Scripture.
I once again also brushed over the words of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 - "let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet."
I don't always like reading those verses. If someone deliberately tell you that you are maybe not the right one for the job or you would be perfect for another job that they had in mind, you don't always want to be reminded of silence.
But as I read the verses again and again, I feel a warm fuzzy feeling crawling up my cheeks. "She is to remain quiet." Quiet. Still. Not silent. Big difference. Huge purpose.
Quietness is what you experience when you sit on the bench in the winter morning sun and soak up the calmness of nature. There is a thousand words there. Quietness is listening closely to what God is saying and in return, speaking your mind to Him. Quietness is the soft hand you put on someone's shoulder when they are losing it big time. Enough said. Quietness is to pray when everyone else is putting on their boxing gloves. Speak to the hand. Quietness is a lot of things that silence can never be or achieve.
Although I was terribly quiet the last couple of months, just as you were quiet, I shouldn't have kept silent. I should've continued to speak my mind, whether it is a two-minute read or two words. We have something to say and we should say it, quietly. That is the exact place where God wants us - not hiding away in a corner with a mouth full of teeth, but stepping into a sacred space of quietness that the world and our families and friends, husbands, children, workplaces so desperately needs. As women we have a very important voice, but a very different voice. And discovering the power and beauty of that very different voice is a very satisfying and fulfilling journey.
May you enjoy finding your voice and stepping into that voice with confidence.
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