There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven... a time to be silent and a time to speak.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 (NIV)
Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. Zephaniah 1:7 (NIV)
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. Habakkuk 2:20 (NIV)
Last week I was suffering from laryngitis. I had completely lost my voice. The doctor said the only way to get it back was to completely stop talking for an extended period of time. The problem is I like to talk. You might say (judging by the length of my sermons) I like to talk too much. But there I was, silent for a week. Needless to say the boys loved it. I couldn’t yell if they did something wrong. Leslie loved it. She got to talk and I had to listen with no interruptions. I think my family enjoyed my infirmity a little too much.
I began to wonder if God enjoyed my silence. Silence, after all, is a spiritual discipline. I wonder if sometimes my words get so noisy that I miss God’s still, small voice?
We live in a noisy world. There will be times when it is necessary to turn off the radio, TV, computer, iPod, Blackberry, etc. in order to connect with God. There will be times we need to disconnect from everything and everyone demanding our attention. What would a little silence do for your relationship with Christ?
This week stop talking for awhile, turn off the noise, and set aside time to meditate on the verse… Be still, and know that I am God... Psalms 46:10 (NIV)
