Silence

Two blog posts ago I promised the internet world that I would take 10 minutes a day for 2 weeks and give God my silence. It's easier for me to give God time when I am with others, either time in community or time in a more public setting.  I think part of the reason is that I am an extrovert and its much easier to focus, learn and even create stillness within my mind when I'm around others. But when it comes down to spending time alone with God, it was difficult for me, and admittedly still is. There are days when I don't feel like setting aside a longer period of time, even 10 minutes, to spend with God. Note that I would try and have 10 minutes of silence in the morning before breakfast, here's how it went:

One morning would go really well, I would read Scripture and then just set my mind on God. Ask Him to quiet my mind and speak to me. I would feel God's presence, and He would start to allow His reality to take over mine. But the next morning, after being mentally and spiritually stretched the day before, the time I was about to give wouldn't seem as inspirational, or at least as meaningful. It took a lot of will power to take the 10 minutes of silence. I would come up with excuses, like: "Well yesterday went well, so I can skip a day." Or "I'm really hungry, so I'll make breakfast and then I'll take my quiet time." Of course procrastination just leads to more procrastination and then it's nighttime before I had any good alone time. "Good alone time". I think I am still struggling with what that statement means, because I believe that even in our not so profound moments with God, its still "good" because we spent it with God.

The next paragraph is what I wrote in my journal and have been learning over the last month and has only been reinforced with my little experiment over the past two weeks. It's something I believe to be true and will continue to go after as long as I live. My encouragement to you: try it! Give God some stillness and see what He does :)

There is something about stillness. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but God created it for a reason and when God is given your stillness, He uses it and responds to our effort. When you ask God to quiet your mind and your heart, it allows Him to sink in. For Him to become reality, its like He reveals His kingdom not just to you, but in you. You start to become filled with His wisdom, start to live a life centered on the only one worth centering your life on. The inner transformation of your life is critical and important to God. It's where God makes His home and His Spirit advises. Stop worrying about what your going to do tomorrow, focus on turning your inside into something that IS God's.