Stillness

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. 

(Psalm 62:5 NKJV)

The world we live in seems to be getting more and more busy, with all sorts of sounds around us.  With development and technology, we are surrounded by gadgets which produce sound and we have grown accustomed to their sounds so that it plays in the back of our minds.  Some people tend to always have some background sounds running every time, whether it is music playing or a TV or Radio.  Interestingly, the sounds in the background are not so much to listen to what is being released but to somewhat have the company of sound and noise to fill our minds.  Even then, we do not get to sit still but are always on the move, going somewhere or doing something.  Sadly, though we are “human beings”, we often miss out on the “being” and focus on “doing things”.  Our reference verse is calling us to “being” just being silent, waiting and expecting from God.

It calls for deliberate effort for one to be “still”, where all else is turned away and one sits in utter silence away from distractions as much as possible.  This I admit is not an easy thing given how we are socialized but it is the place of our power as believers.  Throughout the bible, we notice that God spoke or appeared to people in moments of quiet and tranquility.  We read of God calling out to Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). The reference of the time gives us a picture of a peaceful lovely time of day, as when God chose to visit them, not to mention that they were hiding from Him and He was lovingly seeking them out. When Elijah had dealt with the prophets of Baal and was hiding from Jezebel, he needed to hear God speak to him (1 Kings 19:11-13).  God chose to speak by a still small voice and not through the mighty wind or by the earthquake.  Elijah would only hear the still small voice of God if he was quietly waiting and listening intently.  God is always speaking to us His children, guiding us on the way to go in every step, that is His promise to us (Isaiah 30:21), He speaks to our ears whether to turn to the right or to the left.  The question is whether we are listening to Him.  It is upon us to get into a position of listening to Him and hearing Him.

Jesus knowing the need to listen to God spent time early each morning to pray to God, He sought a place of quietness, a deserted place away from distractions so that He could hear what the Father said to Him (Mark 1:35).  This was a secret of His ministry and it is no wonder that His disciples observing His prayer-life asked Him to teach them how to pray.  Jesus did only what He saw His Father doing, spoke only what He heard His Father speaking (John 5:19). It is through His moments of solitude and stillness listening to the Father that He received guidance on what to do and say.  As His followers, we cannot do anything differently, we need to learn from our Master about spending time in quietness that we might listen and hear from our Father.  We will hear God when we are quiet in His presence, Jesus Himself says that He stands at the door and knocks for anyone who will hear Him (Revelations 3:20), one will only hear the knocking if he is in a place of silence not in the middle of noises, hustle and bustle.

Beloved, when we are silent before the Lord, we are acknowledging His presence and power, we are submitting to Him to lead every step of our day.  This is counter-intuitive, but it is the place of our strength, our hope is in God alone and He reminds us to be still knowing that He alone is God (Psalm 46:10).  In the midst of all that goes on around us, let us learn to find moments of stillness when we approach our Father.  Habakkuk reminds us that when our God is in His holy temple, the earth must be silent before Him (Habakkuk 2:20), when we draw into His presence, we can do nothing else but be quiet and wait upon Him, that is His desire.  When we do so, He will fill and feed us with what we need, He will hold us up and carry us through the situations in our lives, He will strengthen and empower us for victory in our journey of faith.

Thoughts:

How is your quiet time before the Lord?

What is God telling you in these moments of stillness?

How is this changing, strengthening, leading you?