Silence.

Listen.

Why is this concept so unnerving? What is it about quiet that makes so many people uncomfortable? Our lives are constantly bombarded by noise. Everywhere. All the time. If not auditory noise, we are bombarded with advertisements, people, schedules, deadlines. Every two seconds you hear someone's smart phone going off; a reminder for something. New text. New email.

Maybe that's why I enjoy evening so much. It's quiet. Old, familiar tunes don't overpower the quiet right now but rather enhance it. An overly large mug of tea warms my chilled fingers. Psalms 46:10 says,

"Be Still and know that I am God."
Be Still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still. 
Be.

What this speaks to me is that the very essence of our being should just simply be; understanding that Abba is our Father. That amidst the chaos of our lives God is still God. He will never change, He will never give up on us, He will never stop loving us. I believe God longs for each one of us to know this. Despite 3 a.m. bedtimes due to late night cramming, despite our ridiculously crazy lives, despite things happening that are beyond our control, Abba is still our Father and He loves us.

This deep understanding, I relate to silence.
Silence is always there. So is God. Silence never changes. Neither does Abba. Sometimes you just need to close the textbook, put away the computer/iPod/phone and wait, to finally hear the silence again. The same is true with our Father. Sometimes you have to deliberately stop being so busy and wait for Him. He longs to communicate with us, he speaks to us often but we just don't listen.

It's easy to let worry obscure this silence. How many times have I been too stressed to even acknowledge what Abba was speaking to my heart? I used to think in times of stress that my Daddy wasn't speaking to me. How wrong I was. He speaks to us constantly. Philippians 4: 6-7 says, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, in prayer and supplication, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of Christ, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Do not be anxious. Be still. Be. And God's peace will blow you away through His Spirit.

Being still can be hard. It can feel so uncomfortable at first. John 15:7 says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you want of me and it will be done for you." Abiding doesn't mean finding Christ for a couple minutes here, an hour or two on Sunday. It means constantly. It means seeking out that silence deliberately. Because guess what. The verses preceding this one say "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." Don't know about you, but I feel that's pretty harsh. If you don't abide in Christ, you'll wither up and die, and get thrown into a fire. You won't be thriving. You'll be useless and dead, just like a dried up vine.

So. The next time you get overwhelmed with school, the next time painful memories threaten to overtake you, the next time you feel like you just can't handle it all, be still and know. And let Abba take you from there.  I won't promise it'll make all the above issues go away, but I do promise if you go in with Abba by your side and the full knowledge of Him resting in your heart, you'll get through. Let God lead you.