Sunday, January 30, 2011

Silence is Golden

We were running late to church this morning for the 9:00 am service and I figured we would walk into the sanctuary during praise songs. But as we entered the hallway we were greeted by the sound of Pastor James welcoming everyone to the morning service. We quickly found our seats and I shoved my purse under the pew in front of us, then I remembered that I needed to silence my cell phone.
ItalicI was pretty wise about turning mine off which I always do for church. After our praise song and Pastoral prayer the lights were dimmed and the video screens went black. The word SILENCE flashed white on the screens. Followed my many different scriptures talking about silence and listening to God. Meditation. Being still. Prayer.
It was quite uplifting to listen to only the sound of your heartbeat as these words flashed by. I felt more connected and was intrigued how the quiet can be so reassuring and comforting. The sermon that Pastor James gave really spoke to my heart today.
In today's world we are always distracted by the noise of the world. Whether it's the television, radio, cell phones or people. Then we wonder why we can't hear God. Our Lord is always speaking to us, but how can we hear him amongst all that noise? You have to set aside the time to be in silence when asking and praying to him and wait, meditate and be still. We might pray to God and he hears us, but we're not giving him the time to answer us. What kind of conversation is that?
It touched me because in some small way I know what he's talking about. This past Friday evening during dinner, we ate without the television on. It was an enjoyable quiet. Miss K asked me " aren't you going to turn the tv on? Maybe watch Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune?" I told her "nope. not tonight. We're enjoying dinner together without tv." She smiled. That was so amazing. We enjoyed family conversation and Miss K was telling us about her day and had to be reminded a few times to eat her dinner. Silencing the outside noise was beautiful. I was reminded of my blessings that evening and God spoke to me.
That will not be the only night of no television during dinner. I suggested recording those shows we usually watch during dinner but the hubs said "no. we watch enough as it is. It's more enjoyable listening to the kids and what they have to say." God is reconnecting us during dinner and it's only the tip of the ice burg.

Do you think that you could give up something that is noise in your day to day life to reconnect and listen to God? You never know, you probably won't miss it.




Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10

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