In the Stillness

Troubling times can be overwhelming.  When Ezekiel finally landed in the land of the Chaldeans with the exiled Hebrews by the River Chebar,  he did not know what to do.  Nothing about his training to be a priest in the Temple of Jerusalem prepared him for what he saw and experienced.  In verse 15 of the third chapter the Word speaks of his arrival in this new place, "I came to the exiles at Telabib, who lived by the river Chebar.  And I sat there among them, stunned, for seven days."  When he saw first hand what he had only heard about, any plan for action upon arrival seemed useless.  He was overcome.  He was stunned.

 

The image created in these words is of a man sitting in silence.  He has no words to offer and he has no ears to ear whatever comfort might be offered to him. What is interesting in light of the trouble of our own day is the way the troubles of this ancient prophet pushed him into the stillness, into the silence, into the depths of his own heart.  One of the things we have experienced in these days is the way we have been pushed away from superficial social interaction, dependence on the status quo, and our addiction to the dictates of alarm clocks and appointment calendars. 

 

And even as we have been pushed away from these things, we have been pushed into the stillness.  Activities no longer fill our day.  They no longer dictate how we use our time.  Instead we are being pushed into a stillness and a silence that is being filled with important family stuff we never seemed to have time to do.  Another thing to remember is that as Ezekiel learned to live with the new awareness of stillness in his life, he began to experience God revealing Himself in new ways.  He became a man of visions.  He became a man with a personal relationship with God.  He became one who understood what it meant to hear anew the Word of the Lord.  As we learn to live with this new awareness of stillness and silence in our lives, we should not be surprised at a new awareness of the Spirit prowling around in our hearts.