It is Saturday morning as I write this. Bob is off to breakfast with some men from the church. The television is quiet, no news broadcasts, no Price is Right screamers. (Bob calls it “The Happy Hour.”) The neighborhood is still asleep. So far all I have seen is Mama Kitty and Shaky Jake in the backyard looking for breakfast. Even the birds are quiet.
Sitting here in the quiet I am reminded just how noisy the world is. Too often we equate noise with productivity. Even Christianity can get caught up with the notion that we need to always be on the move for God. And that means constant movement and noise!
In Psalm 37, we are prompted to trust in the LORD and do what is good, to take delight in the LORD, and to commit our way to Him. But we are also prompted to be silent and to wait. “Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.” [Psalm 37:7 HCSB]
Sometimes moving with, working for, and serving the LORD is done in silence and waiting for Him.
One of the most profound passages of Scripture is found in Revelation 8. “When He [the Lamb of God] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” [vs 1 HCSB]
The outpouring of God’s wrath is about to begin. The seven angels who stand in the presence of God are about to be given seven trumpets to blow. The prayers of all the saints are about to be offered up as incense. Fire is about to come upon the earth. But before all this, heaven is silent for about half an hour. All creation is holding their breath and waiting expectantly for God.
Sometimes we need a foreshadowing of that in our lives and in the life of God’s people. We just need to be silent and wait expectantly for Him.