50 Mondays

...In the silence....

There are so many sounds that surround me. Voices, television, music, machines, wind, that annoying beeping sound that my smoke alarm keeps making. So much for my mind to sort through.

Silence is missing so often in my life. Why is that? Is it because, in the silence, I have to face my fears? Is it because, in the silence, I am without distraction and forced to face myself? Be alone with myself? With my thoughts? My hopes? My dreams? My failures? My memories? My questions? My answers?

Yes, to all of those. Yet, when I stand in the silence long enough........ Past the hurts, the fears, the questions..... Past the noise still going on in my head and my heart.....my spirit rises to the front. In the silence, once everything else has gone away, I can hear the whisper of God calling to me. And I cry out, "here I am". In the silence, I can hear Him clearly. I can be in the warm embrace of His Presence. The storm and chaos and noise of life can rage around me, but I don't hear it. It has all been silenced around me. Because I sought Him. I sought His presence. So I can be renewed and strengthened. I lay everything I have been carrying at the cross and I run to Him.

I am reminded of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He went to the mount of Lord to seek His presence and to hear from Him. There was a strong wind that tore into the mountain, an earthquake and a fire. But God wasn't in those things. Elijah heard the still small voice of God after all of that - in the silence. What I love about all of that is God was always there. Elijah had to seek Him. Elijah waited for the silence. He didn't give up during the earthquake because he couldn't hear God. Elijah stood in the silence. Past the noise, past the wind, the earthquake, the fire.

So, my challenge is to stand in the silence more. To stand through the strong wind of my fears, the earthquake of my hurts and self-doubt, the fire of my burdens. To reach the calming silence where I can hear the whisper of God. Where I cry out, "here I am". And He answers, "Here, I've always been".

Love and Blessings!
Bri