Would God Say 'Shut up!'?

The Sound of Silence

Simon and Garfunkel are the first two things that come to my mind when I think about silence. The second thing that comes to my mind is, “I'm very thankful my last name isn't Garfunkel”. When it comes to being silent, I am a fat, lazy, couch potato. Let me explain.

 The Story

A few weeks back Beth and I were in New Jersey visiting her extended family for her cousin Bryan's graduation (Congrats, Bryan!). Thursday afternoon the house emptied as people went to help set up for Bryan's open house. I stayed behind. 

I sat in an Adirondack chair on their deck with the intention of just being silent before God. Something I don't do very often, but would love to be more disciplined at doing. I quickly learned that being silent is a lot like working out. 

As I sat there, I couldn't focus on listening to God. This was the first time I had stopped to think all week. All of my thoughts from the past week just kept falling into my head like marbles in that game Kerplunk (I think that's what it was called). One right after another. I need to do this. I forgot to do that. I wish I was thinner. 

I wish... 

If only... 

I... 

I... 

I realized I wasn't listening to God anymore. Because this was my first time stopping to listen to Him, I wasn't ready to fully listen. I had to push myself out of the way first.

Sit down and shut up...please.

I wonder if God gets frustrated like parents do. I wonder if God sometimes has to walk into a different room to keep His cool. Does God often want to grab us by our ear, sit us in a chair, and say, “Would you please just shut up and listen?”

Don't let that give you a tainted image of God, but if it challenges you to improve your behavior knowing that He could do that to you and it would be justified, than let it. 

Learning to listen takes time, discipline, and a strong will to persist. 

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When was the last time you stopped to listen to God? (Don't feel guilty if you haven't, just do something about it.) 

What was it like?

Have you ever set aside 15 minutes a day just to listen? Let's try it this week. Let me know how it goes!