silent treatment

(originally posted 1/20/08)

Last week I was having an “emotional” week. One day in particular, I was short tempered and little things were making me upset and even making me cry. After the boys were in bed, Brandon and I were sitting on the sofa watching TV and something happened (I think maybe something Brandon said) set me off again. I was crying and ranting and just letting it all out. I guess “letting Brandon have it” is practically what I was doing. It had been a long day, I was tired and I just had to explode…poor Brandon just happened to be there. Well, earlier in the day Brandon had rented a couple movies for us to watch but the boys had been difficult to put to bed and when I finally collapsed onto the sofa I just wanted to veg out and watch 20/20 (it was a murder mystery….my favorite!!). So, I had turned on the TV and whatever Brandon said had set me off and so the TV was running and I was sobbing and just as I poured my heart out and told Brandon how I was feeling he turned to me and said “So, are we going to watch this movie or not?” If you’re married you know that this was not a smart thing to say. I think I turned bright red. I was so mad. It was as if Brandon was tuning out every word I had said and was only concerned with watching his precious movie. I, in turn, gave him the silent treatment (okay, so I reverted to high school, dating style fighting habits) and sulked. Brandon tried to recant and climb out of the HUGE hole he had just dug himself into but I wasn’t having it. We eventually made nice and went to bed on a good note but it wasn’t until the next morning that the Lord spoke to me. 

 Lesson Learned? We treat the Lord exactly this way. This is a double lesson because, in this scenario, both Brandon and I can represent the Lord. Assuming that I am the Lord in this situation, we sometimes have no idea that God is pouring Himself out to us. He is seeking an intimate moment of conversation and closeness and we in turn respond with something way off base. We aren’t in tune at all to the point and focus the Lord is trying to make with us. We are on a completely different plain and it can appear, and maybe even is true, that we aren’t even paying attention to Him. We think we are having a conversation when in reality we are on totally different pages. On the flip side, assuming Brandon is the Lord in our scenario, we as people can be totally pouring ourselves onto the altar and looking for a specific response and when we don’t get the response we were hoping for or striving for we get so angry that we give the Lord the “silent treatment”. We walk away and refuse to even talk through what the Lord is saying. He is taking us in a specific direction but we refuse to follow. The Lord is looking out for us. He wants what’s best for us. We have to strive to be in tune with Him and in our prayers and conversations with Him make sure we are not speaking on a surface level and assuming we’ve spent quality time with Him. We also can’t assume we know what answer is coming and when we don’t hear exactly what “we want” refuse to listen any further. Like I said “how childish." Instead, any time we seek the Lord, we have to prepare our hearts for any answer that might come. And regardless of what we hear, we must trust the Lord and believe that He knows exactly what we need. Let’s not forget, the Lord lives in tomorrow, next week and even next year. He sees the BIG picture! Let’s be thankful for that instead of resenting it in a moment of immaturity.