I don't know how many times I reached for the POWER button to the car radio, only to remember... Oh yeah, I'm silencing my life...
And then we come to my heart.
I think I have one of those "cue screens," the ones used to prompt newscasters, constantly running in my head. "Do this...think about this...Don't forget this!" And on and on it goes. No dead batteries here! I have THE energizer bunny inside my brain, ensuring the constant flow of thoughts and plans and desires and dreams... Boy. Maybe I'm a lost cause.
Or maybe not. Maybe silence takes practice. Maybe shutting my mouth (or turning off my brain) is like a muscle that needs to be flexed and strengthened. Maybe I have just been too lazy (or selfish, or ignorant, or....) to do the workout, and now I'm trying to run a marathon. It doesn't work that way.
I can't count the number of times this week that I told God how much I want to hear what He has to say. Because I do! I WANT to quiet my heart so that He actually has a chance to get a word in edgewise. Oh, how I long to obey Him...but I have to HEAR what He says in order to obey. So my prayer, this past week and moving onward, is that God would teach me how to QUIET. How to quiet my life (removing needless distractions and activities that are outside of His call for me NOW). How to quiet my spirit (bringing areas of sin to the throne and handing over idols that line the halls of my heart). How to quiet my prayer life (can't I just SIT with Him, without constantly asking for things?). How to quiet my tongue (is every word that falls from my mouth REALLY that necessary?). How to QUIET. May it be so, and may God give me the strength to do the WORK of "flexing" my solitude and silence "muscles."
Friends, how was your week of silence and solitude? Did you do the work of creating silence in your life, or were you overrun by the noise of the world and in your head? Was this week an encouragement to you, or a struggle?
Please share your thoughts!
Just like you, Abigail, it was a struggle to keep my mind "off" or silent this week. I figured that trying to listen was not very easy. I understand now what my children think when I ask them "Are you listening to me?". Perhaps this is the same question that God is asking me. Well, I'm sure this is the question that God asks me, that is why He needs to get my attention in "different" ways. I completly agree with you, when you say, we must train ourselves to listen to God. Just like David asked God to created in him a clean heart, we must ask God to silence our minds. I found it so much easier to listen to God when I would focus on His Word. I would close my eyes and meditate on a verse, I could almost see the words written inside my head, and it seemed that everything else around me would just fade away. If I tried to do it on my own, it was a waste, thoughts, noises, anything would disturb my time with Him. It never amazes me when God shows me how powerful His Word is.
ReplyDeleteIt was a short week, that's for sure. For me I will keep doing this for a long time.
I don't mean to keep bringing this up, but your father was an amazing listener, he would remember every detail of every story I would ever tell him for months and always asking me about it. That is really listening not just hearing someone. How important is that! I see that in my husband, how he really pays attention to what someone is saying and cares for that person. Justin loves silence and solitude, he seeks it and longs for it, me on the other hand, don't like it all that much, but God is growing me in that area. That is why I would like to keep doing this. I know He longs to be with me in solitude, I should long to be with Him too, every chance I get. I need to learn to be quiet in a world that loves noise and distractions.
This may sound silly, but I wore my glod cross necklace all week. I remembered an old MWS had a song in the 1990's called "Cross of Gold" and I realized that a lot of the time, I wore my cross necklace because I thought it was the best jewlery for my outfit. This week, no matter what my outfit was, I wore it to continually remind myself that I needed time with my Savior. Whenever I felt myself absent-mindedly playing with my necklace, I'd stop and pray and I would pursue solitude. It was a great physical reminder to get with Jesus and put Him first in my life.
ReplyDeleteMonica, I loved reading your perspective on this past week. I laughed when you talked about wondering if your kids were listening to you = ] I, too, think I am going to keep trying to do the quiet dare.
ReplyDeleteSusan, physical reminders really help me too! I liked your idea.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts ladies! Praying for you both!