My wife is very comfortable with quiet. I admire her ability to sit peacefully and listen to God. 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 that I live in. It means that I input quite a lot of information. I benefit from many wise voices and am grateful for the gift of music which inspires, soothes, and provokes.
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 salvation. 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 think that 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 to me? What words of truth and encouragement have I not heard?
Second, the noise reduces my ability to consider my life and 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 it does not penetrate my heart, “I gain nothing.”
One of the most significant authors of our generation is Frederick Buechner, who passed away just a few years ago. 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 on this journey.
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? Endless social media scrolling, music, Netflix, podcasts, and cable might 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?
I turned off the music a quarter of the way into this post. And I pause now and breathe.
I’m here, Lord. Quiet. I wait for your salvation.
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