The Benefits of Silence

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta 

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NKJV).

I sat outside early one morning sipping my coffee and listening as birds graced the air with their songs. The air was unusually cool for a summer day and the breeze was refreshing. I watched a squirrel scurry down a tree and investigate something on the ground. A small, green lizard perched on the arm of my chair, its throat pulsating with orange. It stared at me for a few moments before scampering away in search of an insect meal. God’s creation was in symphony and my soul was at rest.

But as peaceful as this scene was there was still some noise. The noise of nature is beautiful with the chirping birds and the gentle wind blowing, but have you ever contemplated the benefit of total silence?

One of the instructors at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference that I just returned from was Eva Marie Everson. I purchased her book, The Third Path, Finding Intimacy with God on the Path of Questioning. I had intended to buy this book months earlier, but you know how intentions are, they don’t produce anything.

But I am glad I was finally in the place where this tome was before me and I grabbed it, excited to find out about the third path. This journey carries us through twenty-six questions God asked different people throughout the Bible and the result of their answers.

What is our answer to these same queries? How do they affect our lives, decisions, and relationship with our heavenly Father?

The goal of this volume is to encourage us to get away with God and experience total, complete silence. A quietness that is not disturbed by even the squeak of a door or the tick of a clock.

Then listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit.

When the Lord tells us to be still and KNOW that He is God, He is commanding us to put away everything else that gets in the way. We can find out more about our identity in Christ by KNOWING Him in a way we never have before. 

If you want to pursue a deeper relationship with God, I can highly recommend this book to help you think deeply about who you are and what the Lord means to you. You can find out the benefit of silence.

Join the conversation and share your thoughts. 

Find out the benefit of silence through The Third Path by Eva Marie Everson (click to tweet)

Image courtesy of  bess.hamiti@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

In our busy world, can we really be still and know God?

by Barbara Latta

Do you have a word to focus on for 2020?

Finding a word for the year has become a trending activity and it helps us grow in the area we have chosen. This makes an easier goal setting task for me than making a list of resolutions.

As I was praying about what word I should use for this year, I heard “listen.”

Along with that word came Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God.

In our busy world, can we really be still and know God?

The words “be still” may not mean for us to completely stop moving all the time, but there is an amazing difference when we take a few minutes to stop everything – TV, social media, work, music and just ponder God. In our busy activity, just stop and be still.

Our world is so overwhelming with busyness and noise, we think we don’t have time to be still. We need to finish the “to do” list. But if your list is like mine it never gets to the end anyway.

So, this year I want to stop more often. Yes, just do nothing for a few minutes every day and just listen.

Listen. Rest. Refresh.

What is He saying right now at this time to me?

What do I need to study in His Word?

Keep the mind still.

The New American Standard Version says, “cease striving.”

Stop being anxious.

Trust Him.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV).

This is one of my favorite go-to scriptures. And this describes “cease striving.”

This says to me to stop trying to make things happen and just follow His Word.

Rest in His arms and absorb Him.

Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your high God, above politics, above everything (Psalm 46:10 The Message).

Above politics, yes! As we get away from everything negative we can refocus on the positive God who loves us and is above everything.

Do you have a word for the New Year?

Feel free to share your thoughts and vision for 2020.

Listen to God, be still and cease striving. Do not beanxious about anything (click to tweet)