Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still, and know that I am God!”
God can speak to you anytime, anywhere, through anybody, by dropping a thought into your mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). But because that thought can be crowded out by busyness, He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In stillness you can hear God more clearly.
“Jesus used many illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand, but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them” (Mark 4:33-34).
In High Call, High Privilege, Gail MacDonald writes: “The ancient desert fathers used to commit themselves to a disciplinary creed: silence, solitude, and inner peace. Only after adequate amounts of time listening, did they consider themselves ready to speak.
Today there’s a strange logic that spiritual resource and renewal are found in constantly seeking new voices, attending more meetings, to exchange half-thought-out opinions. We fall into the trap of believing God is most pleased when we’ve maximized our information, our schedules, and our relationships. Disengagement means silence before God – a time of heavenly discussion during which we listen more than we speak. And silence demands solitude.”
In waiting quietly before God, your spiritual ear is trained to know His voice. Sylvia Gunter writes: “I understand why David had to command his soul to be still. Being quiet is difficult, almost impossible for some of us. But I’ve discovered that my soul and spirit have been starving for stillness for a long time, and now that I’ve given my soul a taste of stillness again it will not be satisfied unless it’s a regular part of my day.”
© 2017 CE