STARVED SILENCE

We live in a world filled with noise. It seems like everywhere we turn, it is increasingly more difficult to find places of silence and solitude in our lives. From, Television, Cellphones, iPads, Xboxes, Pandora Radios, and Social Media it seems as if we are addicted to noise... and afraid of the silence.

Think about this. Why is it that we fill our lives with chatter? Why is it that we are afraid of silence? And more importantly, is there a connection between a lack of hearing God’s voice and the deficiency of silence in our lives? Be still, and know that I am God.—Psalm 46:10
 
Often, noise is our drug of choice. We self-medicate ourselves with noise because we are afraid of silence. Silence has a way of stripping us bare of all pretenses, forcing us to take a good long look in the mirror of our soul. For some of us, this is just too painful, just too raw for us to face. So we surround ourselves with racket, thinking that the longer we can drown out the voices, perhaps they might go away. But they rarely do!

It’s reassuring to know that the Bible is filled with people who heard from God. They connected with God in ways that were life-changing, and pretty much every one of those was in a moment of silence or solitude. God rarely speaks in the storm, one passage says — He is in the gentle whisper.

Silence and solitude were regular rhythms Jesus had as a part of His life. They were not merely luxuries Jesus enjoyed — they were central beats of His life. In times of sorrow, in times of busyness, in times of stress, in times of reflection — Jesus often found the time to get alone, seeking out places of silence and solitude. This was not merely Jesus’ way of getting a break — He was demonstrating something far deeper. He was modeling the reality that at your very core, you were created with a hunger for silence and solitude.

Jesus knows this. This is why He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11.28

Christ is inviting you to embrace His tempo — and in this tempo, to find rest for your weary soul. The question is this:  Can you truly find this kind of rest if you do not find places of silence and solitude?

Maybe it’s time to stop starving your life of silence... and listen. 

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