Silence.
How often do we take time to be still, to be quiet, and to just let the thoughts come? Lately I have found myself craving such silence. There are so many distractions and so many noises that push and pull me that I sometimes feel like a boat tossed about by waves in a storm. The only music that satisfies me is the kind that is pensive, simple worship, like the song “My God” by my friend Tom Ewing or something by John Michael Talbot or like the song that I’ve included below by Brooke Fraser recorded with Hillsong United.
In classic fashion, we humans have cluttered up our lives. We’ve gone after our little idols of prosperity (i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc.) and now we’re paying for it with the shredding of our souls from the inside out from all of the jagged airwaves, microwaves and sound waves.
The psalmist in Psalm 46:10 prophesies the word of the Lord:
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
I believe that we fear silence for what it might bring up from within ourselves. Yes, it will reveal our pain that we try so desperately to cover with our idolatrous musings. But pain revealed is a blessing, for then we can know in what areas to ask the Lord for healing.
We also fear silence because of feeling alone. The American culture is so splintered because of the extreme individuality that our prosperity has afforded us. We hide behind our Facebook, shut out the world with our earbuds and work incredibly hard to earn enough money (or have enough credit), so that we never need to rely on others. The consequence to all of that personal “freedom” is that we are cut off from the joy that true, healthy and pure intimacy with others and with the Lord can give us.
In Psalm 46:11, the psalmist repeats 2 phrases from earlier in the psalm:
“The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.”
As you listen to this song below, allow the Lord to speak to you and to bring healing to your innermost being. He is very much alive and very much in love with you. “Be still, and know that I am God.”