Music is the silence between the notes. ~Claude Debussy
Writers connect the dots with a pencil of silence; words without white space will never be read.
Artists consider the “negative spaces.” The area around the important subject is painted with great care.
Musicians are as faithful in counting the rests and the pauses as they are in playing the notes.
The prophet Elijah stood on a mountain, discouraged and alone, and waited for God as the “sound of sheer silence” beat in his ears (1 Kings 19:12).
Are you waiting like Elijah to hear from God–in the spaces, in the rests, in the silence?
God’s Silence
I don’t remember how long it was, it seemed to last forever. As far as I could tell, God had checked out of my world.
My prayers fizzled and fell unheard to the ground, my Bible-reading was as refreshing as chalk. No hope, no encouragement, no sense of peace, I cried out each day, “God, I need feel your presence, to know you care, and answer prayer!” No reassurance came–no miraculous answer, no uplifting card arrived in the mail, my Bible refused to fall open to a verse meant just for me. Even God’s creation seemed indifferent.
Dusk is my favorite time to pray, when the boundary between earth and heaven seems thin. So I went for a walk one evening, certain I’d be given a sign–a shooting star, the benediction of a songbird, a rush of warmth for my long-chilled heart. By the end of the walk, my gut ached with sadness, “I matter so little to God, even a crumb of encouragement is too much to ask.”
As I neared my home, I was startled to hear a soft voice, singing a hymn I’d learned as a child. Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side.
The voice, I discovered, was my own.
Silence Has Its Reason
The early church fathers taught what we forget to our sorrow: The silence of God has its reasons, and we will all feel the chill of its touch. The deepest desire of every human being is to draw near to God, and to believe his love without question. Nothing else will satisfy. But how can we know we hunger for God unless he withholds the food we like better?
After one line of that old hymn, I knew:
- I really do love God, not only what he gives me.
- I really do trust God, even when my unsteady mind forgets.
My wandering heart is learning faith, and silence is sometimes its tutor.
What have you learned in the silence of God?
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