In the silence
… be still and know…
T
hose who know me well will tell you that I talk a lot. No seriously… A LOT! I love to entertain and I love to tell stories, so why am I finding it so hard to come up with a topic to blog about?!?
Lately in my personal devotions I’ve been trying to spend time just listening to God. This sounds simple enough, but it’s not - not for me anyway. When I generally spend time with God I find that even then I’m doing all the talking. My thoughts are going a mile-a-minute, I’m constantly telling him about everything and often even forget to take time to listen to him.
Last week in my home group we were talking about how God speaks to us. It hit me hard that I often don’t allow myself to listen and just try to hear what God is saying to me. I often talk right over Him.
A few years ago I attended The School for Youth Leadership, a year long Salvation Army training program for youth workers, in Australia. Near to the end of our year a silent retreat day was scheduled for us. When I heard about it I freaked out. We were expected to be silent for an entire day. I remember thinking that it was going to be impossible for me. I mean my own family used to joke that when I was a kid if they told me to stop talking I’d just get bored and fall asleep! So how was I ever going to get through an entire day of silence? We even had to spend our meal times in complete silence.
The silence retreat day ended up being one of the best days that I had at the school. God spoke to me in the silence. I was able to reflect on so much of what I had learned that year and to truly spend time in the presence of God. I’ve tried to do that since, but to be honest it is really hard to have a day of silence. I have managed to have an hour or two of silence and reflect on God’s word.
I’m never going to be a quiet person. I’m loud. I always have been and I probably always will be. But it’s important for me to be reminded that I need to take the time to listen as well.
Writer: Heather Power lives and works in Toronto, Canada. She is a soldier at Corps 614, and enjoys working with both kids and adults. In her free time she likes hanging out with friends and drinking lots of coffee. As well as post secondary studies in Toronto, her adventures have taken her to Sydney, Australia to study at the School for Youth Leadership, to Melbourne to work in 2Love (the youth department). At the moment she is seeking God’s guidance for the next steps in life and ministry.
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Heather:
Being still can be a truly fruitful form of discipline. Sometimes I wonder though if admonishing others can be a way to shut people down, especially those who find themselves in the position of being dependent on others and who are so isolated that their social skills have atrophied.
As for you specifically, Heather, the amount you talk is directly proportionate to the amount you have to say!
Andrea