He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7
Silence is golden or so they say. Yet it is one of the most difficult things to do in the face of accusations. Over the past couple of years, God has been teaching me that we need not defend ourselves. Even Jesus refused the opportunity of clearing His name when the time arose. It can be so tempting to set people straight on their slander, false assumptions, and condemnations about ourselves. We all want to look "clean" to the world. We want what others think of us to be in a good light. But God thinks differently. We don't need to defend ourselves. It wasn't Jesus' job. It is not ours. God defends us.
Numerous times through Scripture God tells His people that the fight isn't theirs. It is His. In Exodus, as Moses and the Israelites face Pharaoh's army before the crossing of the Red Sea, God encourages them by saying, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." {Exodus 14:14} When we are attacked the hardest thing is to be still...to watch the whole event unfold. Yet we know the ending to the story. There was no fighting that day! They were saved in their stillness and silence.
In II Chronicles 20 as Jehoshaphat is about to face three different armies at once, God proclaims, "For the battle is not yours, but God's...You will not have to fight this battle...Go out to face them tomorrow." {II Chronicles 20:15-17} Face your enemy, but don't fight the battle? What kind of war cry is that? The calling of a God that loves us beyond measure. In the end King Jehoshaphat doesn't fight. By the time the Israelites get there the three armies have destroyed themselves. God's people only need to show up to retrieve the plunder, which took three days to collect!
Our God fights our battles. We don't have to defend our reputations. We don't grasp for control in a certain situation. Sure, there are times when we need to act, but we must always remember that Silent Lamb and that we ourselves should follow His lead. God's got our back and for that matter our reputations and our lives. We need only to be still.
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