Final thoughts on quietness this week. (I find it hilarious that I’m typing this with a sore and strained throat and a self-imposed vow of silence as it heals. God truly does have a sense of humor, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.)
Why is “quiet” something that’s so unnerving, so uncomfortable? I’ve come up with two reasons. The first reason is that noise (and the exponential growth of it in the world as I looked at last week) is a subtle spiritual assault on the world by Satan. 1 Kings 19:11-12 clearly shows that in order to hear God, one needs to be able to hear Him because He speaks largely in the gentle whispers. With all the noise from radios and televisions that run 24/7, the portability and ubiquity of cell phones and iPods, and the sounds of traffic, it’s all contributing to a world that’s so loud that no one will be able to hear God when He speaks, which is precisely what Satan wants.
Second, when all is quiet, usually during the hour of the wolf, it’s then when voices creep in our heads. The most prominent voice tends to be that of the Holy Spirit, our conscience. Many of us don’t like hearing the voice that reminds us of the wrong things that we’ve done in our life, how we’ve messed up, and how sin has us mired and stuck in a sticky web. If we don’t hear from the Holy Spirit, we then tend to hear from the negative voices, such as fear. Fear of failure. Fear of finances. Fear of rejection by others. These thoughts tend to go around and around in our head, stoked by both the literal and figurative demons that plague us, mashing up with other voices–some ancient, some recent–making quiet time an unpleasant, stomach-churning experience for us. So, what do we do? We run away from quiet as much as we can. If it’s not quiet, we reason, the voices won’t come out. Unfortunately, when we turn off all of the voices in our head, we also turn off God’s voice.
Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” If we don’t hear God’s voice, how will we know where to go? Satan knows this and wants to stop us from hearing our Father’s call. If we tune and turn out the noise of the world and listen to quiet, still voice of our Father we have the promise that He will take care of us, like the faithful shepherd who takes care of his sheep, and He will rid us of all the fearful and negative voices in our head weakening any power that the hour of the wolf has over us.
So, with this in mind, let us all pursue time of quiet and meditation without fear, waiting and listening for God’s powerful, quiet, still voice. It will take us to wonderful, exciting places, one of which is a green pasture beside still waters.
May God richly bless your week!
– Matt
1 KingsfearHoly SpiritJesusJohnlistenquietsolitudevoice
Quiet Solitude, We Hardly Knew Ye, Part III
March 26, 2009
Calvary
Comments Off on Quiet Solitude, We Hardly Knew Ye, Part III
Matt
Final thoughts on quietness this week. (I find it hilarious that I’m typing this with a sore and strained throat and a self-imposed vow of silence as it heals. God truly does have a sense of humor, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.)
Why is “quiet” something that’s so unnerving, so uncomfortable? I’ve come up with two reasons. The first reason is that noise (and the exponential growth of it in the world as I looked at last week) is a subtle spiritual assault on the world by Satan. 1 Kings 19:11-12 clearly shows that in order to hear God, one needs to be able to hear Him because He speaks largely in the gentle whispers. With all the noise from radios and televisions that run 24/7, the portability and ubiquity of cell phones and iPods, and the sounds of traffic, it’s all contributing to a world that’s so loud that no one will be able to hear God when He speaks, which is precisely what Satan wants.
Second, when all is quiet, usually during the hour of the wolf, it’s then when voices creep in our heads. The most prominent voice tends to be that of the Holy Spirit, our conscience. Many of us don’t like hearing the voice that reminds us of the wrong things that we’ve done in our life, how we’ve messed up, and how sin has us mired and stuck in a sticky web. If we don’t hear from the Holy Spirit, we then tend to hear from the negative voices, such as fear. Fear of failure. Fear of finances. Fear of rejection by others. These thoughts tend to go around and around in our head, stoked by both the literal and figurative demons that plague us, mashing up with other voices–some ancient, some recent–making quiet time an unpleasant, stomach-churning experience for us. So, what do we do? We run away from quiet as much as we can. If it’s not quiet, we reason, the voices won’t come out. Unfortunately, when we turn off all of the voices in our head, we also turn off God’s voice.
Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” If we don’t hear God’s voice, how will we know where to go? Satan knows this and wants to stop us from hearing our Father’s call. If we tune and turn out the noise of the world and listen to quiet, still voice of our Father we have the promise that He will take care of us, like the faithful shepherd who takes care of his sheep, and He will rid us of all the fearful and negative voices in our head weakening any power that the hour of the wolf has over us.
So, with this in mind, let us all pursue time of quiet and meditation without fear, waiting and listening for God’s powerful, quiet, still voice. It will take us to wonderful, exciting places, one of which is a green pasture beside still waters.
May God richly bless your week!
– Matt
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