03/10/2025
A Quiet Answer
An old pastor went to a busy restaurant to eat. He found a quiet corner table and prayed silently over his meal, thankful for his food.
Suddenly, a man stood in front of him. The man knew he was a pastor and wanted to make fun of him.
The man shouted loudly so everyone in the restaurant could hear, "THERE IS NO GOD!"
The restaurant went silent. Everyone stopped eating and talking. All eyes were on the pastor and the man. But the pastor stayed calm and quietly continued to eat his food.
The man got angry because the pastor did not react. He slammed his hand on the table and leaned in close. "Did you hear me?" he said in a mean voice. "I said, THERE IS NO GOD!"
The pastor slowly finished chewing his food. He looked up at the man, and his eyes were not angry, but kind and a little sad.
In a soft voice that was still clear enough for everyone to hear, the pastor said, "My friend, what you just said is nothing new. The Holy Bible wrote those same words more than 2,000 years ago."
The man was shocked and confused. "What? The Bible would never say that."
"Yes, it does," the pastor replied gently. "It is written in the book of Psalms, chapter 14, verse 1. It says, 'The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."'"
The pastor paused for a moment and then looked at the man with kindness.
"But there is one big difference between you and the fool in that verse," the pastor said. "The fool in the Bible only said it quietly in his own heart. You felt the need to shout it to everyone."
The man stood there, unable to speak. The memory of his own loud voice now filled him with shame. In the end, the pastor's quiet faith was much stronger than the man's loud doubt.
This story teaches us a simple but important lesson from the Bible. It shows the difference between true strength and loud noise.
The Bible tells us that what we say comes from what is in our hearts. In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. The man who shouted was loud because his heart was likely full of anger, pride, or pain. He needed everyone to hear him because he was not at peace inside. His shouting was a way to make his own feelings feel true.
The pastor, on the other hand, shows a different kind of strength. The Bible says in Isaiah 30:15, "In quietness and in trust is your strength." The pastor's faith was strong on the inside, so he didn't need to yell or argue. He was calm because his belief in God was like a strong anchor in a storm. He met anger with peace.
The most important point is the difference between saying something "in his heart" and "shouting it." When a person shouts their unbelief, it often shows they are not sure of themselves. They are trying to convince others, and also themselves, that they are right.
The pastor did not judge the man. He just used the words of the Bible like a mirror to show the man what he was doing. The lesson for us is that a strong faith does not need to be loud. It just needs to be a true and steady light that shines quietly for all to see.
