Beauty In His Silence
By Joe Lugo
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About this ebook
We all long to hear from God... but what happens when it seems like He has nothing to say... when it seems like He isn’t listening... when God is Silent?
If you have ever wondered about these questions, you are not alone. Unfortunately, many times we are led to believe that silence is a bad thing, and when it comes from God it is even worse. So what can we do?
Through his experiences of silence growing up with a deaf father and among the deaf community, Joe Lugo shows how silence doesn’t have to be “silent,” and how God has not abandoned us just because we can no longer hear Him. He shows how to recognize God’s greatest works in us and the immense beauty that comes along with it.
Joe Lugo
Joe Lugo is the lead pastor for Oasis, the Spanish ministry of Countryside Christian Center in Florida. He also leads the deaf ministry and serves in the English side of church. He is known for his passion for the Latino and Deaf communities, as he spends the majority of his time serving there. Joe has a passion for learning as he has completed two degrees and is in the process of completing another. He has over 20 years of leading ministry sharing and teaching all that he has learned through his experiences serving the Lord. He lives in Florida with His wife and their two sons.
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Beauty In His Silence - Joe Lugo
Beauty In His Silence
Rediscovering Purpose, Growth, and Joy When God Seems Quiet
by Joe Lugo
Beauty In His Silence
Rediscovering Purpose, Growth, and Joy When God Seems Quiet
Published 2016 by J^3 Creations, LLC
Copyright© 2016 J^3 Creations, LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means ‚ electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other‚ except for critical reviews or articles, without the express consent of the publisher.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author
ISBN: 978-0-9975515-1-8
Written by Joe Lugo
Foreword by Alex Rodriguez
Cover Design by YMMY Marketing
Illustrations by Chava Santana
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright© 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.‚ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV
and New International Version
are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Dedication and Thanks
To my sweet Jesus, my Lord and Savior: You never left me alone in my silence and made sure you met me for coffee every morning. I owe you everything!
To my Loving wife, Sandy: Thank you for believing in me and staying right by my side during the times of tough silence as God was writing this story. I could never have done this without you. You are my inspiration. I love you with all my being!
To my sons, Matthew and Andrew: You both provided me with purpose and helped me smile during some of my most silent of moments. I love you so much and I am so proud to be your dad!
To my Dad, Eugenio, who without even knowing it introduced me to a world that help shape my silence and the beauty that I found in it.
To my mother, Maria, whom without her none of this would be possible and for never giving up on me and praying me into the Kingdom.
To my sisters, Malinda and Rebecca who have always made me feel like a big brother should.
To my family, my church family and my friends: You were there to encourage me to finish this book. You all are an inspiration to me and I am truly blessed to have you in my life.
To all who are experiencing or have experienced God’s silence in your life and wondering why you are going through this. May you truly discover the beauty in His silence.
Special thanks to my dearest of friends Alex, who encouraged, advised, and guided me through writing this book, among other things. I owe a lot of this book in part to you. I could never repay you for your friendship.
Special thanks to my brother-in-law Eli, who pushed me to write this book even when I didn’t want to, for recognizing in me something I didn’t see for myself, and for his advice in the production of this book. I could never repay you for all you have done.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
True Silence: Son of a CODA
True Silence: To Hear or not to Hear
My Silence: Why God, Why?
My Silence: Can You Hear Me Now?
My Silence: Silence is not Golden
Biblical Examples of Silence
The Problem with Silence: Can You Wait on Him?
The Problem with Silence: Can He Trust You?
The Problem with Silence: Can He Work On You?
He Allows Us To Ask Questions: Conditions Behind the Questions
He Allows Us To Ask Questions: Why do You Need to Know?
You Don’t Need Ears to Hear: Creative Ways to Hear God
You Don’t Need Ears to Hear: The Sounds of Silence
Are You Listening? Can You Hear Over The Noise?
Are You Listening? Be Still
The Beauty in His Silence
About The Author
Foreword
For the past decade and a half, I’ve been honored to know Joe and his family. Actually, know
is quite a tepid verb to describe our relationship. He is beyond a friend, more like a brother, the head of a family that has become my own family near my home in Florida, where none of my dear parents nor siblings currently live. I even call Joe’s mom mi mamá Boricua
(which means my Puerto Rican mom
).
In fact, if on any normal day you ask my kids where they’d like to go outside of our home, automatically and without flinching they would reply Mr. Joe’s house,
as even Joe’s kids are my sons’ best friends.
Joe and I share many, many things in common: our love of God, our commitment to our families, our dedication to leadership at our congregation, our openness to try foods from all over the world (especially if it involves spicy flavors!), our love of music — both listening and performing — among many others.
Just like Joe, I’ve been a musician since I was a teenager. It is such an amazing gift from our Creator to be able to lay your hands and feet on an analog apparatus or an electronic gadget, and bring out the full expression of delectable notes we know as music.
As you start out as a musician, when you’ve gone from not playing at all to plunking away at your instrument for the very first time, your full focus is usually on which notes to play, when to play them, and how hard or how fast to play them. That’s really all that music is for a beginner: a stream of notes and beats a person can listen to. The biggest temptation for a musical novice is to bang, strum, pluck, blow, etc., putting in as many notes as possible. In the end, more notes mean more music to listen to, right?
The reality, however, is that music is much more about the notes you don’t play than about the ones you do.
There’s a quote that precisely supports this, whose original author is uncertain, although it has been attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claude Debussy, among a few other musical giants. The quote goes like this: Music is the space between the notes.
It doesn’t really matter who said, but I think Beethoven may have comprehended this mystery better than most musicians. You see, most of his widely renowned works were composed during the final years of his life, when he was almost completely deaf.
This notion about silence being an essential element in music is liberating for a musician, as it removes the burden to be too busy
while performing, but it’s also a relief for people listening to music as well. Under this approach, when enjoying music you don’t have to feel tense, gobbling up notes like an audiophiliac Pac-Man; you can find comfort and enjoy the pauses and rests in between.
When Joe first told me about the idea for this book, I thought it was a fantastic subject, based on this somewhat peculiar perspective on music that I’ve just described. Since then, I’ve been fully convinced that Joe is the right person to share with others about this topic. However, having actually read through this book, as a student sits attentively while listening to his teacher, I’ve been more than amazed at the unforeseen dimensions Joe has taken the subject of silence.
Most books examine topics you can perceive with your senses, or stories and scenarios you can imagine in your mind. The book you are now holding is a rarity: a phenomenally deep exploration of quietness.
Joe holds a very unique perspective on this topic, based on his life experiences, his family relationships, and his acute perception of what it means for a creature to have a loving relationship with their Creator through Christ. I would recommend you consider every angle Joe presents as he paints the scene about the stillness that God often invites us into.
Now, try to quiet the chatter in your own head, and give Joe your undivided attention.
You will learn a thing or two as you listen.
In other words, be silent…
…and enjoy.
Shhh.
Alex Rodriguez
about.me/alxrodz
Introduction
Many people struggle with silence. It can be maddening when we feel no one can hear us or understand us. It causes great pain, confusion, and discouragement. But what happens when you experience silence from the one person who’s supposed to love you more than anyone or anything that has ever existed?
What happens when God is silent? When it seems like He’s just not there anymore or maybe He was never there at all? Where do we go when we search for Him and He doesn’t appear to be found? When we pray, read His Word, and live what we believe are lives pleasing to Him and He responds with nothing… silence!
Should we just give up? Abandon our faith? After all, He seems very active and present in the lives of others. Is there something wrong with us? Are we somehow broken? Does God expect us to follow Him even if we never hear from Him?
What is silence? That is the very question