A Time To Speak Up

https://odb.org/MY/2021/10/18/a-time-to-speak

Ecclesiastes 3 is probably one of the more well known passages from that book. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time dance. A time to tear and a time to mend. Lastly but not the least, a time to be silent and a time to speak. This also reminds me of the Hymn – In His Time – which goes, “In His time, in His time, He makes all things beautiful, in His time. Lord show me every day. As You’re teaching me Your ways. That You’ll do just what You say in Your time…”

There is thus a time for everything and even God Himself has His own timing in the scheme of things; which brings us to the time to be silent and the time to speak.

I have always struggled with this. When I first started interacting with people at a young age, I used to listen in when my father speaks with other adults, with his friends. Sometimes I interject and join in the conversation. But my dad will tell me off later that when adults speak, children should just keep quiet and listen. It is a time to be silent because it is inappropriate for a child to speak up in adult conversations. At work, I learnt the hard way as to when it is appropriate to speak and over time, I realised that it is not what you say that matters but who you are to say what. Certain things can only be said with appropriate seniority and experience.You just cannot embarrass your superiors or correct them in public even if you have the correct facts. Without someone senior lending his or her weight for you, what you say will not carry much weight unless you yourself have a huge reputation and credibility.

I guess it’s the same with ministry. We carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit with the lives we live, with our life of sanctification and being a living sacrifice. The anointing will only flow if our hearts are sincere and genuine, and our lives sanctified and set apart for God. Clever words will tickle the ear, but Spirit-filled words will bring forth transformation and empower lives as we know the Word of God is powerful and penetrates hearts like a double edged sword.

As a person that prefers silence to confrontation, I’m less prone to speak up. It’s a weakness because I may just let things slide and worsen before intervening. Yet I also think that sometimes it’s a strength as a deeper work can be done through conciliatory efforts than confrontation. Antagonimism pushes people away and invokes a similar response while conciliatory discussion draws people in and allows for more genuine change. And yet, some things need to be said because they are clearly wrong and may lead to disastrous consequences. In the end, spiritual discernment and Godly wisdom will help us immensely on what we should do as we allow the boldness of the Spirit to envelope us. This is most crucial for people like me who like to stay clear of confrontations and remain quiet because I realised that there are matters that we will not be able to avoid a direct heart to heart talk as we mature in the Lord.

There is a time for everything and God has His own timing. We need to be in tune with the season of the times, especially God’s seasons. Despite our individual personality trait preferring silence, we need to speak up to correct wrongs, to rectify mistakes, to forgive transgressions against us and to seek forgiveness for our own trespasses or wrongful behaviour. Time will heal but there is a time for everything including a time to remain silent and a time to speak up, a time to tear and a time to mend.