Today a gentle snow falls. Large clusters of flakes tumble earthward, holding hands and dancing to a muted tune only they can hear. It must be warmer today. I put on my coat and head down the snow-cloaked road.
It’s so quiet my crunchy footsteps resound irreverently across the wintry expanse. When I reach the hilltop, I stop. A profound stillness envelops me. I strain to hear something… anything. There’s nothing; not the rustle of crisp, brown oak leaves, not the cheerful call of the chickadees, not a whisper from the wind. My whole world pays silent homage to God.
Winter harbors a deep silence, a penetrating peace that washes over my soul. I smile contentedly. Then I hear something other-worldly, a still, small voice whispering, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Be still, like a calm, winter day. Welcome silence into your life. Talk less. Turn off the useless noise inside your head. Meditate on My Word more. Turn off the external noise from computers, televisions, radios, and phones. Be still so you can hear Me.
Incessant noise is a cultural curse. (Bear with me here… just venting!) Everything makes so much noise; vehicles, appliances, tools, computers, televisions, radios, phones. Even when people are outdoors, they often have ear buds stuck in their ears. If that weren’t enough, much of the noise is amplified to the extreme that many teens and adults under the age of 60 are running around with hearing losses, many caused by churches, Christian concerts, and Christian camps who have bought into the “loud is good” philosophy.
I realize I’m weird, but I take issue with that. Loud really isn’t God’s modus operandi. Not that God never does loud. Thunder, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, falling trees… all loud. They also seem to have a common thread. All are demonstrations of God’s great might, and sometimes His wrath and judgment. But most of His day-to-day words; words of love, encouragement, reassurance, conviction, hope and peace, are gentle and soft-spoken. Unlike me, God does not usually yell over the noise to get His child’s attention.
If we would hear God, we must be like the wind and the waves on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus “got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.” (Mark 4:39) We must obey the voice of our Maker. We must obediently turn down the volume of all the things screaming for our attention. We must read the Bible and listen for the voice of the Spirit whispering to us. We must find solace in a stillness so deep it penetrates the soul like a calm winter day.