Silence Speaks
- The Narrow Path
- Jun 17, 2022
- 3 min read
My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways (Proverbs 23:26, NIV).
I sometimes have an aversion to silence. I prefer the low rumblings of the TV in the background while I read or write. I require a fan for white noise in order to sleep well. I prefer to have music playing while I’m showering or cleaning the house. I like to have my AirPods for listening to a podcast when I’m out on walks by myself.
How do you feel about silence? Are you the type of person who constantly needs some background noise while you’re milling about and operating in the normal day-to-day activities of life? I have mixed feelings. While I sometimes have an aversion to the silence, I have also experienced many moments of connection with Jesus in the quiet.
Most of us live very fast-paced lives. We hit the ground running to the sound of our alarm clocks, and we race through the morning routine to get the kids off to school and ourselves to work on time. We hit the door at the end of the work/school day only to jump into the next planned activity for the evening. Though COVID halted the craziness of our schedules for quite some time, many of us have resumed our hectic pace of life as we head into the summer of 2022.
I am thankful that so many of us have been able to resume a somewhat “normal” lifestyle over the last several months. It is something we have prayed for since the onset of COVID in March 2020. However, my hope is that we don’t forget the importance of slowing down and getting alone with God in the quiet. It is then that we can invite Him to enter into the spaces of our hearts that we try to keep hidden amongst the noise.
One place I have come to enjoy is the silence of my vehicle. No radio, no conversations. Just me, Jesus, and the rumbling of my tires on the open road. I have experienced many difficult but revealing moments with Jesus in the silence of my car while traveling down Kentucky country backroads. For whatever reason, it has become a time where I can press pause, lean into the silence, and listen for how God may be speaking. I will often cry out, shed any tears I’ve been holding back, and ask Him the difficult questions that stir in my heart.
My questions are typically never answered with an audible voice, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t use the silence to speak. Maybe it’s a whisper in the wind. Maybe it’s an image of His creation I see that sheds light on a sensitive subject. And sometimes, He just uses the silence to remind me just how loved I am.
My point is this: no matter what it looks like, I am praying we can all be intentional to get alone with Jesus. Give him time and space each day, even if it’s just the few minutes you have in the restroom between clients or the late-night rocking to sleep of a child, to speak to you in the silence.
Proverbs 23:26 asks us: “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.” This is a request. In this instance, “give” is a verb, which requires action on our part. May this verse serve as a reminder that when we intentionally seek the silence and give our hearts to Jesus, He will guide our feet along the narrow path, and we will delight in His ways.
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