The Power of Silence

 

As I sit here in the silence of the night, with only the whir of the air conditioner, and the occasional bug hitting the glass door, drawn by the light of the room, the clock ticking faintly in the background, I am reminded of the power of silence.

For the past hour or so, I have been sitting at the piano, letting my fingers glide over the keys, playing melodies that stir the emotions, feed the soul, lift my spirits, and release the creativity that lies down deep inside and is not often seen or felt due to the busyness of life.

As I played, I began to think of the power of silence. The power of the ‘pause’. Do you know what I mean? That little break in a piece of music where there is nothing but silence. The melody is flowing along, with its crescendos and decrescendos, moving gently back and forward with emotive chord progressions, speeding up an slowing down and then….. there is the pause.

There is a sudden break in the music. It is not the end of the song. It is just a pause. It hangs in the air, with a breath of anticipation, engaging its audience and giving them time to reflect on what they have just heard and eagerly wondering what is coming next. How long will the pause last? Will the melody change once it begins again?

And then, once again, the notes return and the melody picks up its former pace, maybe with a key change, or a rise in tempo, but the silence has been broken.

I love the pauses in a piece of music. Often, for the pianist, it simply gives them time to prepare for what is to come or gather their strength again after a difficult section of the song or get their pages in order. But what I love the most, is the power it holds. The hush. The breathless anticipation. The ability for the musician to use it to their advantage and engage the listener once again.

Is there anything quite so powerful as the hush that comes right before the thunder rolls and just after the lightning strikes? There is that anticipation. There is that wonder. How long will the silence last? How loud will the thunder be?

We have been having a lot of thunderstorms here in the Territory lately. With the wet season beginning to settle in, there is always a chance of a burst of lightning, a crash of thunder and a torrential downpour to send you running to get everything under cover.

There is power in silence.

And did you realise, that there is power in God’s silence too?

In the first part of Psalm 46:10, we read, Be still, and know that I am God:

There are many references in the Bible to being still. Standing still.

In the book of Exodus, we read of the Israelites miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:13 KJV - And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

How difficult it must have been to stand still. To know that Pharaoh’s army was bearing down on them, and they were trapped. And yet the people were told to stand still. God was going to do something miraculous. Amazing. Astounding. He was doing a work that they could not even imagine!

Even Job was told to stand still.

Job 37:14 KJV - Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

Standing still is not something I do well. Being, doing, walking, running I can handle. But standing still when the storm rages around me or there is work to be done, to do lists to check off, is not an easy task.

I guess what I am trying to say is this. There is power in silence. There is power in the times that God chooses to be silent. He has not abandoned you. He is not ignoring you. He is working in the background. He is stretching your faith. He is helping you grow.

He is putting the finishing touches on the next part of the melody. He is working on the next page of your story. And he is longing to teach you patience and the need to trust him fully.  If we can just learn to stand still, we will see the salvation of the Lord.

Just as the Israelites had to trust God and watch as God parted the waters so they could walk across on dry land, so too should we trust God and stand still, waiting on him.

The silence is our time to pray. Our time to wholly depend on God, waiting eagerly to see what he is going to do in our lives. The silence gives us the time to review what he has taught us, what he may be trying to teach us at this very moment and to listen for his still small voice.

When the clamour of the world’s busyness becomes too loud, it’s hard to hear God speak. And so, sometimes he puts a pause in our song.

Sometimes the pause comes in the form of sickness and forced bedrest. Other times it’s a brief pause, like an extended stop at roadworks, when you’re in a hurry. Or maybe it’s the tiresome waiting you do in the doctor’s office. Whatever it is and wherever and whenever the pauses come, take note. There is power in the silence. There is strength in stillness.

At times it feels as though you have cried out to God only to be brought up short with silence. The answers fail to come, the doubts arise and the only thing you can do is to stand still. Be still. Wait on God.

Ask God to speak to you in the silence, listen for his voice. He may have chosen to be silent in order to get your attention. Maybe you’ve been coasting along and neglecting his Word or time spent in prayer. Make good use of the time to reflect on his Word and learn from it. Take the time to lift prayers of thankfulness to him. Praise him for who he is and what he’s done.

He has paused the melody for a reason. We may not understand the reasons or what he is trying to accomplish in our lives, but I do know that the pauses in our lives have purpose.

His silence never means that we are alone.

These God-sent pauses should cause us to stop and take spiritual inventory. They should cause us to look at our condition and see where we stand with God and whether we are walking in his will, obeying, trusting and faithfully serving him.

Just as the pause in a piece of music brings questions, so too do the pauses in our lives. Bring your questions to God. Ask him to show you where you’re straying off the path he has set before you. Ask him for wisdom. Then wait with eager anticipation, excited about what comes next, after the pause, when the melody begins again.

Be alert and listen for the pauses. Remember that God can show his power in the storm, the crash of the thunder and the flash of the lightning, but he also shows his Almighty power in the stillness. In the quietness. In the silence.  

He is working to build your confidence in him. He is teaching you to walk by faith. He is instilling hope inside of you and he is revealing his purpose.

Be still. Wait. Hope. Obey. Trust. And you will see the salvation of the Lord!

 

“All-loving Father, sometimes we have walked under starless skies that dripped darkness like drenching rain. We despaired of starshine or moonlight or sunrise. The sullen blackness gloomed above us as if it would last forever. And out of the dark there spoke no soothing voice to mend our broken hearts. We would gladly have welcomed some wild thunder peal to break the torturing stillness of that over-brooding night.

“But Thy winsome whisper of eternal love spoke more sweetly to our bruised and bleeding souls than any winds that breathe across Aeolian harps. It was Thy ’still small voice’ that spoke to us. We were listening and we heard. We looked and saw Thy face radiant with the light of love. And when we heard Thy voice and saw Thy face, new life came back to us as life comes back to withered blooms that drink the summer rain.”