The Pain of Silence

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long”. (Psalm 32:3 N.I.V)

Often when people have a poor relationship, they resort to the “silent treatment”. Some people use silence as a way to punish their partner, friend or colleague when they feel wronged or when they do not wish to discuss a particular subject. But this kind of stone walling if kept up is very destructive to a relationship. It is painful to both the initiator and the other person it is directed to. There is much happiness when all the channels of communication are open: when we can smile at each other openly with our conflicts resolved.

It is the same way with our relationship with God. When we do not confess and get atonement for our sins, our guilt eats at us and “we groan all day long”. We have no joy and we feel alienated from him. But when we talk to God all the time with a grateful and repentant heart, fully expressing all our disappointments and desires, we enjoy inner peace beyond measure.

Let us resolve to communicate better with God and our fellow men.

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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.  Martin Luther King Jr

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