Friday, January 18, 2013

Quiet Time

Over the years, I've had a significant number of times where I have been working in my office with no one else in the building.  The phones were silent, there wasn't anything urgent that needed to be done, and so I was blessed with some quiet time.  I've learned that times such as these are really good for some quiet reflection, some prayer, and even some good Scripture study.

This is the kind of thing that we American's tend not to understand very well.  It seems that our schedules are so busy, we're always on the go, and we're surrounded by so much sound and background noise that we have a hard time when it gets quiet.  Think about the last group conversation you were part of.  When that moment of silence occurred, did everyone seem to revel in it, or did you find yourself fidgeting around, waiting for someone to break the silence and start talking?

Silent times are blessings from God, but I also believe that they are blessings that we have to learn to understand and appreciate, especially since we live in such a frenzied world.  Silence now seems foreign.  It seems to be the intruder into our lives.  And yet, silence can be so refreshing.  Quiet time with God, whether in reading His Word or in prayer, gives a tremendous forum to clear our minds of the things that get in the way of discerning the leading of God's Spirit.  It's a bit of a lost art, and one that I would dearly love to see many people reclaim.

For me, some of this silent time comes when I run.  Other times of it happen when I'm alone in my office, or when I spend time in prayer.  My hope is that you also grow to see the importance of silent, quiet time, especially when you spend it in some way with God.

No comments:

Post a Comment