Uplift

Silence

   A week or so ago during a sermon at my church, the speaker mentioned a book she had been reading about silence and solitude. As she shared how deeply it had impacted her, something in my own heart stirred. Truth be told, I’ve never been a big fan of silence. I tend to run from it because it feels costly. Silence leaves too much room for thoughts.  I’ve learned to keep busy, avoiding emotions I’d rather not face, and truths that feel heavy at first touch. But that morning, I felt compelled to lean in and ask myself why I avoid it. When I do allow myself to sit in silence, it’s usually brief—just long enough before my mind starts racing. Yet I’ve noticed that if I stay there a little longer, those overwhelming thoughts begin to settle into place. They don’t disappear, but they become clearer, more manageable. Silence has a way of moving our physical distractions aside and gently bringing to the surface the emotions we often drown out with the noise of our lives. It sharpens our spiritual ears and makes space to hear from Jesus. He is always speaking, but we’re not always still enough to listen. Silence is an invitation into something deeper, something sacred. And I truly believe Jesus longs to meet each of us right there—in the quiet, in the stillness, in the spaces we’re tempted to avoid.
Psalms 62:5 “For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to him, for my hope is from him”. So, as I was searching for the words to write this post, I discovered this scripture. I love how the writer says for God alone, his soul waits in silence. This passage alludes to the power that is held in silence. It is in the silence that my soul quietly submits to God, realizing that my hope comes from him. I truly believe that silence includes the quieting of our souls. It’s like an emptying of our hearts take place in the silence. A mental cleansing takes place in the silence. We remove the filter from our emotions and we just let them flow freely.  Psalms 46:10 (Easy Translation) “He says, be still and quiet! Understand that I am God. I rule as King over the nations. All the world will say that I am great”. Silence has a way of bringing about a stillness and in that stillness is rest. It’s the type of rest that wraps itself around your entire being. It quiets your mind and invites you into something intimate, beautiful, restoring, and life-changing. There is so much noise in our world right now, that we all need to practice what I’m calling restorative silence. This type of silence is the type that restores us in only the ways that sitting in silence before Jesus can bring.

      So, how do we stop avoiding the silence? I’m so glad you asked. It will not be easy, but it is possible. It can happen one small step at a time. When you have formed a pattern of avoiding silence, it’s like you have to unlearn that pattern by teaching yourself a new way. I have 3 things I want to suggest to you that might help.

1). Start slow: This means, don’t jump in with trying to sit in silence for an hour. Maybe all you can take is 5 min in the beginning. Maybe you commit to driving home from work in silence. So that might look like you not reaching for your typical distractions of music or phone calls. You might have to set a timer on your phone for 10 min, commit to a place you will sit in silence, and go for it.

2). Commit to doing it: If you’re like me, you do well if you commit to something. It is as if you don’t want to let yourself down. Make the commitment realistic. If you know it is unrealistic for you to commit to an hour of sitting in silence, please don’t do it. Only commit to what you feel comfortable with starting out with. 

3). Plan for it: Put it on your calendar if you need to. Plan for only 2 to 3 days at first. You can even plan out what it will look like for you. Be open to what it will bring up for you. Maybe plan by bringing a journal in the beginning, and journal after you sit in silence. Journal about anything that comes up in the moment and any heavy emotions. Journal about how you feel after you sit in silence. What is God speaking to you in those moments? 

I hope this will help you to at least begin to feel curious like I’ve felt about sitting in silence. I’ve moved from curious to exploring what it will look like for me to trying it out a few moments a day. Those moments led me to write this poem about silence.

Silence
Is silence really golden?
It feels empty, hollow yet, inviting. Inviting me into a gutting of my soul to who I am. Silence lends space for my emotions to be felt and explored. It digs into the core of my heart leading me into a intimate search with the one who created me. The one who created all of creation already knows the details of who he created yet, he meets me in the silence opening my heart to all he wants to show me. Silence stills my mind and brings me into rest and solace. It is in the silence that the unraveling of who I was begins. It almost feels like a breaking.  A breaking away from who I thought I could be. It is in the silence that whispers become beautiful Jesus filled messages that lead to my souls fulfillment.  We run from the silence to our phones, to empty conversations, to our favorite music, not being fully aware that it is in the silence that Jesus waits for us. It is in the sacred moments of silence and solitude that we get to meet who we are. In the silence who we found under the pressure of life begins to emerge. Under the pressures of life who we are finds its way to the surface, it is in that version of who we are that our healing and rebuilding begins. There is something holy about laying down the noise of life in the silence. In the silence we exchange hurriness for the slow quiet, placidity that silence invites us into. Silence scares me because I’m left vulnerable to my own thoughts. Yet, I keep returning to it because there is this untangling happening in my heart as Jesus unravels what I built and builds something beautiful that he can use. 
So, here I sit in the silence letting Jesus meet me there. The silence is a invitation to my soul for something deeper, something more, something new, something beautiful, something restored.

These words seemed to just pour out of me the other night. I had been processing what it meant to sit in silence for me. Honestly, I keep talking about the world were living in today because it’s so heavy on my heart. It makes the invitation to sit in silence and solitude feel more intriguing. The thought of it almost feels safe from the world. It feels like an invitation to hide away from the noise under the shadow of his wings. Maybe right now, you have been looking for something more and you need something or some place that feels safe. Maybe like me, silence feels scary right now, but you’re intrigued about what it might look like for you. I want to invite you on a journey with me. A journey of restorative silence. Pick your day, pick the time, decide how long, plan out how it will look for you, and go for it! Let silence restore something in you that feels lost or out of place. I’m so glad you’re here with me. Please take your shoes off, kick your feet up, take a deep breath, and relax in the light.

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godsgirllora
I am a wife, a mother a believer in Jesus Christ and a person who lives with a mental health condition. My desire is to come alongside of those like me who need support. I will write my real, raw, honest journey through this in hopes that you and I can find strength through it together. Your comments are welcomed and honored here. All I ask is that you be respectful with your words because my journey might not look like yours but it is mine. Looking forward to walking alongside you here in this safe space. P.S If your looking for perfect grammar and words placed perfect….you won’t find that here. You will find words that come from my heart and the heart of Jesus, hopefully in that you will find hope. I believe with hope comes the courage to step into the safety of the light.
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