Savoring the Quiet
Our lives rarely settle into quiet these days. We get absorbed in the music on our ear pods, our eyes glued to the computer or TV screens where we are getting our daily dose of entertainment or information.
My blogs share a lot of “God-information” online. I often wonder if I am listening to way too much noise and am missing the voice of God in my thoughts.
In 2021, I was all prepared for the movers to show up and load all the boxes and furniture to take to Austin – my new place of residence. BUT a crazy ice and snowstorm came through Frisco AND Austin. All was at a stand-still!
I lost power for a few days in my Frisco home, and the quiet settled in like a blanket. And let me tell you, it was a strange kind of quiet. No hum from the fridge, no whirl of the washing machine—just the eerie silence of a world unplugged.
Even as I type these words now, I’m surrounded by the familiar sounds: the A/C humming, the washing machine swooshing, the gentle click-clack of my keyboard. We’re seldom without noise.
The kind of quiet that seemed strange to me that winter was every day in the first century. No traffic, no high tech, no hum of household appliances. That quiet would have been as natural to David, the shepherd boy, as the stars over his head.
David was no stranger to solitude in the fields watching sheep graze, miles away from his brothers’ battlefield shouts and clamoring swords.
I imagine there were days he thought, “Sheep again?” Perhaps he longed for the thrill of battle or the bustle of the city, while he spent days watching clouds drift and learning to play his harp.
He couldn’t have known then that the quiet days were forming a heart tuned to God’s voice. He couldn’t have known that the boredom, the quiet, the hours with only sheep as company would shape him into Israel’s great king, and that his words would comfort generations through the 23rd Psalm.
What David might’ve thought was monotony, God saw as preparation. Perhaps God wants us to embrace quiet. There our calling can be revealed. When we step away from the clicks, the screens, we find the space to hear our Heavenly Father.
It’s as if God Himself is whispering, “Take time to breathe. Take time to be. In the quiet, I’m here.”
Today, I am offering us sweet respite. If we’re walking and tempted to put in the ear pods, or browsing the TV for the news or show, let’s try pausing! Let’s be still and listen for God’s voice. Let’s invite God into the quiet with us. We’ll probably be surprised by what He has to say.
Because when we’re quiet, He’s still speaking. And His words? They’re worth hearing.