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silence is golden

Monday, April 28, 2014

How annoying is it when someone incessantly talks when you are in a movie theater?

I find it terribly frustrating. It's like, you paid to see this movie and you're not gonna watch it? They're not going to play it again. I don't get it. You're missing it. If you aren't going to pay attention, why are you here?

I feel like sometimes our lives can be like that. God is trying to talk to us, but we are talking over him. We aren't paying attention.

But in this case we didn't have to pay to get in. He paid the price for us, by giving us the free gift of eternal life through his son.

So even thought we "got in free," we only get one shot at this life, at the short amount of time we have on this earth. We only get to experience the things we are experiencing - good or bad - once. We only get the chance to learn from each experience once.

We don't get to go back and do it over. We don't get to watch the "movie of our lives" again. Your life is a movie that is only going to play once...



And I've realized that it's time I start paying more attention to what God is teaching me. But that's going to require me to talk less and listen more... something else I am working on not only with God, but with everyone else. I love this quote:
"The man who serves you the best is the one who is less intent on hearing from you what he wills to hear than on shaping his will according to what he hears from you." - Augustine, The Confessions
But back to God. How can I hear his voice if I am constantly talking over him? If I allow the "noise" of this world to drown it out?

Silence.
"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it." - Isaiah 30:15
I believe the Lord speaks to us in the silences of our lives. In the quiet places. Or at least he does to me.
Recently I was sick for a couple of weeks and spent a lot of time sitting in bed, writing, reading, playing the guitar, reflecting, silent. And I really did feel the Lord helping me to understand the things he has been teaching me in my life lately.

The problem is finding time to be silent in this world we live in now. Not only are we so busy, we are constantly inundated with technology. So in the midst of running around town, crossing a million things of our lists, we are also constantly bombarded by social media and texts and emails and tweets and facebook posts and twitter updates and instagrams.

If we wanted to, it would be possible to never be silent. To never be still.

But then we might not ever hear God's voice.
Richard Foster says, "In contemporary society our Adversary (Satan) majors in 3 things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in 'muchness' & 'manyness' he will rest satisfied."
Let's not let Satan distract us from God. Let's not allow the enemy to hinder us from hearing his voice. Let's make the time to be silent and listen to what God is saying and be guided by his voice.

It's there. He's talking.

Are you listening?

3 comments:

  1. Such a great reminder! I know sometimes I don't take the time to actually listen to Him. I'm too busy flying through my life and just figure, "eh, if something important enough comes up he will just flag me down with some major sign or roadblock." But that's not how it works, is it? Thank you for the great reminder that we need to make sure we are making time to just slow down, stop, and spend some time with Him.

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  2. Just found your blog. I have actually been pursuing living a quiet life so that I can hear God and draw near for the past few years. It has changed me. I thought it was going to be just for a season but it is actually a rest of my life lifestyle I beleive. I began by deactivating my FB and blogging less, stepping out of all the noise. I do not watch tv (not even news) and do not miss it at all. I hear nature again, i am outdoors a lot more. It has brought a deep peace within that I was longing for. it can be done and it is life to me. He is restoring life.

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  3. Lindsay and Kerrie, thank you for your replies!
    Lindsay, yes! I definitely struggle with "flying through life" sometimes, too. It's a daily battle being caught in between this world and living for eternity. I'm so glad you were inspired.
    Kerrie, I am so glad to hear that God has been working in your life in this way! What an encouragement. Thank you for sharing. God truly is the ultimate restorer of life.

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