Silence Speaks

“Silence is the platform on which we can hear.”

Loren Thornburg

Have you seen the big noise-cancelling headphones? I am a big fan of mine. I never realized how loud an airplane is until I take my headphones off. Similarly I don’t realize how loud my life can be until I stop for silence. At different busy seasons of my life I find I am filled with thoughts I didn’t know I had until those moments that I lay my head on the pillow for my first moment of silence in the day. Not an ideal time for those thoughts, as that is the time I want to sleep. Yet, it is upon those moments of silence that we can hear that which is going on within us and through us. Without the silence we don’t hear and without hearing we miss the things that really matter in the depths of our hearts beyond the surface of the busyness of our day.

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.”

Psalm 85:8

God gives what is good as the psalmist reminds us of later in this psalm. He is about what is good for you and for His kingdom. Sometimes I think we keep from silence and from listening because we are afraid of what we will hear. But, we are promised throughout scripture, like in this verse, that the voice of the Lord brings peace. The other voices that we hear are not the Lord and they lead to our folly, which is marked by foolishness and purposelessness. Though our fear of these voices keeps us from entering the quiet of the silence we can turn to Jesus who is for us and for our good. In the Message version the psalmist “can’t wait to hear what he’ll say. God’s about to pronounce his people well. They holy people he loves so much, so they’ll never again live like fools.” God is about us! He loves us and wants to pronounce us well and speak good things to us. Don’t miss them in fear of what the silence will bring. Invite Jesus to speak into the silence of your life. Make room for Him to do that. He wants to speak to you and bring peace. Risk the fear of the silence and listen for His voice of peace that silences all other voices.