My journey into silence brought another discovery. As I pursued the pathway with cautious expectations mixed with a tinge of fear and trembling, I heard another voice screaming at such a level I thought my spiritual eardrums would burst. The tenor and shrillness of speech caused me to put my fingers in my ears and push them with all my might. The phrases, the words, and even the articulation of the syllables created a sense of fear, shame, and condemnation. In the fog of the darkness that ensued, the critical voice sounded amazingly like my own. The thought even went through my mind: “Why can’t I just shut up?” It was in that moment God taught me a terrifying, yet soothing lesson: In the silence, Satan cannot hide and will be exposed for who he really is.
Once you enter the silence, the only screaming you will hear is the voice of Satan. He shouts because it’s his only means of getting your attention. He was never designed for silence—not even in his previous vocational life as the worship leader of the heavenly hosts. He was created to make music, but his sin perverted that ability into nothing more than a noisy gong and a clanging symbol. That great baritone voice, once deep and full, echoing through the portals of the universe, has now become nothing more than noise.
And…he screams to get your attention. If you listen to him, he will overpower the voice of your own spirit, thus insuring your inability to hear the voice of God. It’s certainly easier to listen to him, for he says the same old things over and over and over. It is in some ways like a deadening lullaby, lulling you into neutral or worse, into reverse. The graveled voice, though damning, seems to grip the scars of the soul, promising to give them exactly what they deserve. Its husky tone massages the depths of the wounds undealt with, and releases the poison of jealousy, envy, malice, and murder from that Pandora’s Box of the soul. Listen for long and you will find yourself once again lost in the noise and unable to find the silence.
He does not want you to seek the solace of silence. His condemnation and harassments work far better in the everyday noise of life. For it is from here he will convince you into believing the ultimate lie of condemnation: The voice that you hear is your own voice and you definitely deserve it.
In the silence, when you first hear the timbre of that voice—silence it! You have the authority and the power. Simply speak confidently from your position in Christ: “Shut up in Jesus name!” Then focus once more on the One you are searching for. God’s promise is clear: “If you seek me with all your heart, I will allow you to find me”…even here in the silence.”
Lesson #3: Silence exposes the screaming condemnation of Satan. Recognize it, file it in your spirit’s memory, and remember its purpose—to kill, steal, and destroy. Shut it down every time from your position in Christ through the power and authority of Jesus name.