Sitting at the table in the sun, warm cup of coffee in hand, bible spread before me.
Struggling to quiet my heart so I can hear.
I started learning this art of silence, by having someone else model it in my presence... together we sought to just sit still and start our time together in silence, prayerfully seeking God's presence, Spirit, guidance, words to us.
The more we did it together, the more I tried it alone.
The more I tried it alone, the better I did at stilling myself.
How else to help others come to that point of silence? That point of listening to God?
Do what was modeled to me.
Model it for them.
Listening quietly.
Reflecting before speaking.
Seeking God's presence, starting our time together in prayer, and sitting still before Him, before we talk or do anything else.
That silence is so healing.
When I was in counseling, my counselor also modeled this for me. She sat and listened to me. She waited, as I shared. Then she waited as I sat quiet. She used a therapy that ended up encouraging me to listen to God and take that time to really focus on Him, hear what He had to say, and process it in relation to the struggles I was having at the time.
That's where I first started to gain healing in the inmost parts of my being.
Only now, as I look back do I see how powerful silence before God was.
"Silence is golden" we have heard so many times in reference to children. That is true, as a mother of two youngsters, sometimes that silence from the constant chatter and yelling is truly golden.
However, I would like to suggest a new twist. Silence is golden.... filled with the presence of the glory of God... His royal, sovereign majesty reaching down to flood our souls with the golden light of His presence within us... and we can only really see the depth of His presence in our hearts and lives through being silent before him.
Silence, in the presence of our God is truly a golden, healing balm.
8 comments:
AMEN!
I has such trouble being silent within myself but I continue to practice it daily.
Beautiful post.
Lovely, Heather. Silence is healing. I, too, have only recently discovered how wonderful and powerful silence before the Lord really is. I used to be a woman who talked too, now I find that I struggle to find something that is truly beneficial to say. Sometimes silence is exactly right.
Proverbs 10:19 says:
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
I have grown to love this verse.
Thank you, Heather, for your insightful post!
***correction****
I used to be a woman who talked too, ***much*** now I find that I struggle to find something that is truly beneficial to say.
:)
Watching you grow and deepen and mature over the past few years does something to my heart that I cannot find the right words to explain. This post too reveals a deepening of your experience that resonates with others.
Sometimes I become frustrated at the intentional constant stream of noise, music (I use that term loosely) and advertising that is unavoidable when one just tries to go into a store to buy something. It is part of tying up the hearts of millions of people so they cannot hear the voice of God to their souls. If a person wants to be serious about getting closer to God they also have to get serious about limiting or eliminating more and more of the sources of distraction from their lives. Remember Elijah's training session on the mountain?
Our "adopted" daughter talked to me last night and shared that she had spent last weekend at a "silent retreat" where no one was allowed to talk. This can be a real struggle for her but the effect that it may have had on her spiritual awareness and ability to God seems to be dramatic. For the first time in her life she believes she is hearing messages directly to her from God.
Thank-you so much for sharing these most important thoughts with us.
Our stillness.
Silence.
And surrender.
Where we see our Savior.
Sweet dreams.
oh, heather....SO good. silence is golden when filled with HIS presence.
so often you say things in such a deep way...that you make me stop...and breathe Him in....
love you
jess
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