The difficulty of Silence

Above is a video that really hit home to me. I am what you describe as an antsy person. I love to constantly be doing something. I love to read, write, research, play games, music and so on. But what I really wrestle with is the issue of being silent before God.

Some claim that prayer is a problem because they don’t know what to say, well that is the exact opposite for me. I can pray for extended periods of time with so many people, issues and things to pray for. Prayer is wonderful and it fulfills my sense of duty from Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5, to pray without ceasing. But in my quest to fulfill this I have lost something very important. I have lost my ability to just rest in the presence of God and just “drink Him in”. It is easy to get caught up in the things we must do and all of those things are important, but just as equally important is the ability “to be still and know that He is God”. It is in silence that the heart begins to reflect and if your heart is turned to God you will begin to see His love displayed all through your life. You reflect on the grandness of God and how big He truly is. Also in silence the Spirit brings to mind the things God has written on your heart and allows God a chance to simply just love on you.

I begin to wonder isn’t this the nature of a healthy relationship? I begin to think of the story of Mary and Martha. Where Martha is busy away doing things for her Lord and Mary is resting at His feet. Martha gets upset at Mary for not doing all the work she was and when she confronted Jesus about it, Jesus says to her ““Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” I am sure Martha was astounded by what Jesus said because it goes against our very nature. We feel the need to simply just “do” things for the sake of feeling accomplished or to honor our Lord and these things while being good can distract us from what is really important and that is not leaving the side of Jesus. So again in my silence I am reminded of who I serve, I see the things that He has done and my heart is renewed by His presence. I love God more than anything, but I can’t shut up long enough for Him to tell me how much He loves me.  So let us resolve to make time for silence because in that silence God will be found because just as we are seeking God, He is seeking us as well.