In our society today, we are surrounded by noise. Automobiles, machinery, you name it. It could even be something as simple as your washing machine humming away or something as annoying as your neighbor’s dog barking.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to take even just a couple minutes a day, relax, and listen to nothing for just a short period of time?
Silence is powerful. For example, during a winter storm, the atmosphere grows silent, creating an auditory as well as visual scene of beauty and majesty.
Silence can also be deafening. I remember seeing an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. where twenty people stood silently outside the Vietnam Memorial and held posters with pictures of their loved ones. In the silence, the message the protestors wanted to convey to the public spoke loudly and clearly without having to be heard.
In the quiet, we can reflect on who we are, where we’ve been, what we have yet to do.
From a spiritual perspective, Psalms 46:10 gives us the clear admonition to be still and know that God is, well, God. How can we fully fathom God’s power, peace and presence if we don’t take some time and simply meditate on God’s Word and the fact that He is in control of our lives?
We get so stuck in daily routines and we sometimes neglect just to sit back and embrace silence. It’s in the silence that God speaks to us the most, because it’s when He has our full attention. That’s when it becomes deafening, because you’ve just heard the omnipotent Creator speak.
Try it today — get away from everything for a time, and enjoy the silence.
Silence can be such a powerful thing. There are times that I love it, though.