Nurture Yourself with Silence

Published in the February issue of "Living Today"

Nurture Yourself with Silence

“Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

            Do you ever feel like life is too busy, too noisy, too demanding and too distracting?  No?  Then you must be one of those people who thrive on constant busyness and socialization. I am so glad it is you and not me.

            Whether you are a person who loves solitude or one who is uncomfortable with it, I believe God wants all of us to have times of silence in our world.  After all, if Jesus needed it, why wouldn’t we?

            In Matthew Chapter 14, we find an account of Jesus sending the crowds and his disciples away and going up into the mountains alone. Whn I read that, I wonder if He was at a point in His life when He felt like I sometimes do, in desperate need of peace and quiet. When I don’t get some solitude occasionally, I begin to feel anxious, frustrated and in dire need of a chance to stop the world so I can get off and reconnect with the One who gives peace to my spirit.

                My paternal grandmother was the mother of thirteen children, eleven boys and two girls.  Bless her sweet heart, how did she survive?  My dad tells me that on days when her life got too chaotic she would “get away from it all” by going to the apple orchard to peel potatoes (I imagine it took a lot of potatoes to feed a family of fifteen!).  He said if she saw one of those thirteen kids coming and she wasn’t ready to be bothered, she would throw her apron up over her head. And they knew they needed to back off, Grandma was a redhead!  

            I don’t have an apple orchard or an apron but I do have a quiet room in my house. The four preschool grandchildren who are at my house several days a week know which room it is and what is expected of them in that room. No TV, no playing, no noise. And believe it or not, every once in awhile, one of them will come to me and ask if they can go there because it is “too noisy”. They usually last about thirty seconds.           

            So why do we need those times of silence and solitude? For me it is a time for renewal and refreshment. During those quiet times, I can remind myself of what is really important in my life and what my purpose in life is. It gives me a chance to dream and visualize what I want my life to be like. It is a time when my soul can be spiritually nourished. At the end of my quiet time I usually feel peaceful and confident that I can handle whatever life throws at me.

            So what if you don’t have a quiet room, an apple orchard or even a mountain to go to like Jesus did?  You might be that young stressed mom who can’t even go to the bathroom in peace or a midlife woman who is needed to be a constant caregiver.  I honestly believe you too can find your quiet place. If you are like me, you HAVE to find it. At first, it may be just a few seconds at a time when you can close your eyes and “be still.”

            But as you come to realize how it benefits your life, you will give it to yourself everyday, as a gift.  You will make it a priority it your life. You will learn to discipline yourself to do it because you have come to find that the rewards of doing so are great!

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

© Brenda J. Young  2012