Traveled out of town Sunday night and returned home last night. A little more then 3 hours of driving each way. A lot of the time spent in silence. No radio, no music, no sports – not even a podcast of a favorite sermon. Just the consistent sound of the car moving along and God working in my mind and heart. How I have come to relish the sounds of silence and the chance to stop and still myself.
It shocked me the first time reading the word Silence in a list of disciplines. How could being quiet be a discipline? However, I learned a lot as my shaking hand first reached for the remote control and switched off the TV well before my nightly appointment ended and I sit in silence. Not reading, not busy doing things around the house but just sitting in quietness. Quickly found out I was addicted to sound. Realized something had to be on around me all of the time. I feared the quiet. Our house was always full of noise. TV or music was always playing somewhere even if it was not being watched.
Over the past few years, I have learned that being still is God’s plan. Allowing Him to work in my thoughts. Convicting me of a rebellious attitude, inspiring me to step out of my comfort zone, showing me how a scripture written 2,000 years ago was relevant to that issue I wrestled with this afternoon. God never intended for his children to be so full of noise. Is this why the shepherds were the first to hear of his son’s birth? Were they the only ones quiet enough to hear that night?
Look up the word obey. The Latin root of the word comes from the word meaning “to listen to”. Obedience comes from listening. I have to hear the command before I can obey the command. It is very difficult to be obedient in a noisy world. Stop and listen right now. Are there sounds that you did not hear before? Maybe it is the ticking of a clock, the running of the heater or the sound of your own breathing? Sounds are always around us, yet we have learned to block them out. Filter them through something that judges between what we listen to and what we just hear. What if we filter out that still small voice of God? What if God speaks once then goes on to find an ear waiting to listen?
Deeper Roots
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
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Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect ---- Dr. Bob Rotella
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Jeremy Camp - Speaking Louder Than Before
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1 comment:
Yes, the Spirit does speak with a still small voice and if you don't have our ears and hearts open, we do not hear it. I find that I am addicted to noise also. I need to do more to turn off the noise and just listen. I know that I love to hear the sound of the ocean when I go down to the beach. The sound of the waves coming in and going out have a therapic sound to them. I also remember how wonderful it was to sit by a running river and just listen to the water go by, it was beautiful. I think sometimes we get caught up in "the thick of thin things." I'll have to work on listening to that still small voice more often....
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