My wife, Angel, is very comfortable with quiet. I admire her ability to sit peacefully and listen to God. She intentionally shut down social media over a year and a half ago. Me? Not so much. I work out with audiobooks or podcasts as my audio backdrop. I write with music on.
There are benefits to this audio soundscape in which I live. It means that I input quite a lot of information. I benefit from the teaching of many wise voices and am grateful for the gift of music, which inspires, soothes, and convicts me through the Holy Spirit.
The problem with a life of input is that it can choke out self-reflection and even the voice of God.
In Psalm 62, David is desperate for God’s rescue. He declares, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation” (Ps. 62:1). And then, perhaps as his heart becomes restless, he commands himself, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” (Ps. 62:5).
Similarly, in Lamentations 3, Jeremiah offers this thread of a promise amid tragedy, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. 3:25-28).
For both David and Jeremiah, silence creates space for God’s salvific work to take hold. Silence and salvation are interwoven in God’s tapestry of redemption.
How am I missing out on God’s salvation in my wall of noise?
First, I sometimes drown out God’s voice. If God comes to Elijah in a whisper, how often have I not created space for him to speak softly to me? What words of correction and encouragement have I not heard?
Second, my wall of noise reduces my ability to consider my life and listen to my heart. At his trial, Socrates famously said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Channeling Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, if my podcasts offer me the understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge but they do not penetrate my heart, “I gain nothing.” I have adopted the religion of the Pharisee.
Christian author Frederick Buechner recently passed away. When asked to summarize the most important nugget of truth he offered in his writing, he often pointed to these words: “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis, all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”
Have I regularly listened to my life? Have I spent time in silence listening for God’s voice in “the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness”? I’m afraid I have a long way to go.
God has purposefully interwoven silence and salvation in his tapestry of redemption. Is it a surprise that the Enemy would use the flood of modern technology to all but eliminate silence in our lives? Wouldn’t that be an effective way to drown out God’s voice? Endless social media scrolling, music, Netflix, podcasts, and cable keep us from knowing our Savior and ourselves.
How do we regain the margin of silence in our lives? How do we experience the voice of God and learn to listen to our lives as he invites us to?
How much better would I be able to hear God’s heart if I cut back on social media usage? What if I protected a window of silence every day to listen?
I turned off the music a quarter of the way into this post. And I pause now and inhale and exhale. Silence.
I’m here, Lord. Quiet and listening. I wait for your salvation.
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