The value of silence

I wanted to pass along what I received yesterday in a lovely card sent by beautiful couple from our faith family (The Vineyard) yesterday. I hope you are encouraged by this.

"When we discover the secret of being inwardly at worship while outwardly at work, we find that the soul's silent brings us to God and God to us. Silence takes us beyond the limits of consciousness and into the heart and mind and will of God."

I've spent more time alone in the last three months than I have probably in the last 27 years of family life. Remember that Becky and I have a bunch of kiddos so life in our family and friends doesn't always produce the "quiet life" as much as we love the life we have. It's been very quiet these past three months. Not that my family or friends haven't been there for me. They have and I've loved it. What a gift our kids, church family and friends have been. THANK YOU!

For me, there have just been so many sleepless nights, early mornings, quiet walks, isolated and quarantined times in the hospital not feeling well...just me, myself, and I wrestling with and talking with God contemplating so many abstract thoughts, ideas, scriptures, frustrations, fears, and a host of other emotions, good, bad and ugly. It's been a journey to say the least.

More than anything, I'm learning to worship God all over again. I'm learning to practice the presence of Jesus within every circumstances. It's been a challenging journey but I'm relearning that the default hardwired in me leans hard to my desperate need for the fruit of God's Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). By the way, YOU were wired this way too. We were not meant to live apart from God's presence and power in and working through our lives. This is what we were made for. John Piper says it beautifully that "God is most pleased with us when we are most satisfied with him." Do you know that I am learning and leaning in that direction all over again? That's got to be a good outcome of all of this, would you agree? I sure feel so.

You know that silence can be a gift if you sit with it well. As the quote continues above.. "Silence takes us beyond the limits of consciousness and into the heart and mind and will of God." If I need to be alone, there is no other place I'd rather be, than sitting in God's presence. It's in that place where we discover THE peace that goes beyond all understanding. It's what you're longing for, reaching for, working for each day. Praying that you find this peace wherever your life takes you today. Love you all.

“Sometimes you gotta take a break from all of the noise to appreciate the beauty of all of the silence.” Robert Tew