A Time for Silence

In the fast-paced motions of life, it can be very easy to lose yourself. We don’t usually notice it but a new promotion, an added assignment, even an interesting hobby is all it takes to blur the lines between stop and go. Silence is as essential to living as the pauses in a musical score. If we design our schedules like endless notes following after one another without end, the melody essentially reduces itself into noise and all we get at the end of the day is a set of tired fingers.

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”
– Mark 6:31

A week ago I decided to take a much-needed rest – a Sabbath, as I’d like to call it – after nearly a year of working and doing. I shouldn’t have waited this long, I know. But like everyone else, I’m not immune to getting lost in the blessings and spending less time with the Blesser. And when you’re caught in the humdrum of life, silence won’t find you unless you seek it out.

“Don’t think, just do.”

I used to say this to myself whenever I felt like fear was getting ahead of me and I started to doubt whether I could go through with something – whether I could handle a medical emergency, finish a book, or get past a certain point in my career. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t effective, but it wears you out eventually. And that’s something I realized after ten months of repeating the same strategy.

If we don’t stop and reflect and be quiet, how else would we get the things we need to learn out of life? We can never really “learn from our mistakes” or “grow from our experiences” unless we take a minute to think about them, can we? And unless we hit pause and listen, how else would we hear what God is trying to tell us amidst all the surrounding chaos?