"Are you still watching?" Netflix asks us as we rapidly get the remote to state "yes." truth be told, we are baffled it even asked as opposed to proceeding to the following scene in five seconds. We live in a culture of consistent movement, where even the five seconds between scenes is too long to even think about waiting. We are encompassed by openness, cheap food, fast web; we can barely stand trusting that the microwave will wrap up. We are buyers. There is continually something to do, or something occurring. In any event, when we are put on hold for a telephone call, there will never be quietness — simply awful music.
Quiet on Sunday Mornings
Tragically, this converts into our Sunday administrations. There is a pattern to consider Sunday to be as a constant, otherworldly service station. We come since we realize we should, and we have to get our fill to travel through the forthcoming week. In spite of the fact that we endeavor to design Sunday mornings to think about crafted by Christ, we would concede that petitions without mood melodies or snapshots of quiet stops between advances can feel unbalanced.
believe this is exactly what we need however; silence. A consumeristic approach to Sunday morning worship asks, “What can I gain from this?” but the discipline of silence asks, “What will God reveal to me?”
Silence in the Day-to-Day
It is something that can be practiced outside of Sunday morning. You can, and I believe as Christians we should, take time to sit and listen to God. Yet, it is also something that can benefit us corporately as we sit together—waiting and anticipating what the Lord will reveal to us. We pray and ask for God to “give us this day our daily bread,” but do we ever wait and listen to what that might be, or do we merely try to figure it out on our own?It is an act of faith, believing that God will make himself known in some way. Now let me clarify: when I say silence, I am not speaking of solitude. We all benefit from times of solitude—going off on your own, perhaps in nature or putting in headphones and listening to music. But solitude does not equate silence. If we are listening to music or even reading, we aren’t truly waiting in silence. Silence also is not a time of personal prayer, but rather a time to hear from God.
The Spiritual Discipline of Silence as Praise
Psalm 65:1connects the idea of waiting in silence before the Lord to praising him. Silence corelates with a reverent adoration for God as we see in Habakkuk 2:20, “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” We even see John recording this in Revelation 8:1, as silence took place for a half an hour in heaven as everyone stood in awe of God.
I believe that silence is something that reveres God, actively seeking to make much of him and less of us. We see this in 1 Kings 19:9-13,
as Elijah is seeking the Lord. Scripture tells us, however, that God wasn’t in the strong wind, earthquake, or fire. Instead, he was in the gentle breeze. In silence there is peace and a mysterious beauty.
The regular practice of waiting in silence can help shape us into worshipers who lean into God more, fully believing that he is the author and perfecter of our faith. In the midst of stress, anxiety, pain, suffering, joy, success, and even prosperity, we need to be reminded that God reigns over all. What better way to rely on him, than to stop the noise around us and listen to his wisdom and comfort.
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