The Silence

"For God alone my soul waits in silence..."  (Psalm 62:1, 5)  Waiting in silence is a hard thing for all of us.  Not even the prospect that God is going to be at the other end of the silence makes it any easier.  When we start listing the things that cause us to fear, silence may not be the first thing which comes to mind, but as we linger thinking beyond our first response, we find that it is closer to the top of the list than we would have thought at first.  Being in silence is like removing the facades and the masks we wear to protect our self from our inner self.  Yet, if we are serious about our life with God, if we are serious about caring for the only part of us created for eternity, we will seek the silence and welcome it when it is finally experienced.

 

Sometimes we must find our silence midst the chaos and confusion of the noise around us.  Running to the desert or to some quiet hermitage is not an option for us.  If there is going to be silence in our life, we have some responsibilities to be intentional about experiencing it.  Turning off some of the noise makers is surely one thing, but turning up our inner senses which have been dulled for so long is still another.  Some seek the silence to relieve stress, others to clear the mental cobwebs, but as those who trust in God, our soul purpose is to engage Him living within in us even as Jesus promised would happen. 

 

The Psalmist seems more concerned about the life and welfare of the soul than most 21st century believers do today.   Feeling good is what has been substituted for nurturing and caring for the soul.  Feeling good is about emotions, it is about the external which is always temporal.  The soul is where the inner life is experienced, it is where God chooses to dwell through His Spirit, it is that part of our human existence which was created to live eternally with our Creator God in the heavenly place.  We have no more important believer work to do than finding the silence of God where our soul can be nurtured and shaped.  From that work all others works can come in their proper order.