Silence is golden

Day 3: Today I am thankful for silence.

For the past two weeks, we have been teaching our high school students about being still. We've talked about what it looks like to fully halt the busyness of our lives and completely be still as a means of communicating with God. To let Him do the talking, for once. I encouraged my girls to carve out some time each day to get away from everything and just be silent: to take a moment to focus on what God is trying to tell us, and not worry about what we're trying to tell Him we want.

Conveniently in the middle of all of this, I lost my voice.

All day, I couldn't talk on my phone because noone could understand what I was saying. I couldn't sit and have a face-to-face conversation because it hurt my throat (and surely the other person's ears for having to listen to my squawking attempt at speaking). All I could do today was be silent. And not for just the few minutes a day that I had committed to with my girls. ALL day long. It was refreshing and difficult all in the same token. But it made me realize that I should do that more often. I think it's in our silent moments that we find our strength. When we listen for God's whisper into our hearts rather than trying to do His job ourselves.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength...
-Isaiah 30:15

And so i'll extend to you the same challenge that I have given to my high school girls and myself:

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalms 46:10

That's it. There's no intense study, there's no parable to analyze. Just take this week to stop in the midst of the busyness of your life and be still....remember that God is our God - one who loves us and is with us every step of the way...no matter how hard it seems. We don't have to do life on our own...in fact, it's when we try to do it on our own that we feel the overwhelming burden of our personal limitations. Talk to God, but more importantly, LISTEN to Him. In your prayer time this week, don't say much - let God do all the talking.

You just might be interested in what He has to say...