Silence is Golden

READY

“Be still, and know that I am God!” -- Psalm 46:10

SET

I coach the paralympic sport Goalball. In Goalball, there must be absolute silence on the part of both the spectators, coaches and the players.

This is to allow the players, who are blind or visually impaired (all players have to wear blindfolds to ensure complete fairness), to be able to track the ball once it has left the shooter’s hand. The objective is to defend their 9-meter goals by throwing their body in the ball’s path. If there is a noise of shouting or clapping from others, it can be a serious distraction to the players.

However, when a goal is scored, the crowd then has permission to whoop and cheer to encourage their team. But as soon as the players are ready and the referee raises his hand, everyone in the sports hall has to fall silent again. As a spectator it takes some getting used to. Tournament organizers know this and normally have volunteers walk through the stands carrying large boards with the words “Silence Please.”

But even then, some people just cannot help themselves and inadvertently make some unhelpful noises. If the noise affects the play, the point will be replayed. While volunteering at the London 2012 Paralympics, I even witnessed a particularly boisterous fan being ejected from the arena as they seemed to have zero self-control and a seeming addiction to hearing their voice. For some people, silence is more difficult than golden.

Quietness is one of the most important disciplines for spiritual life. Silence is a vital key that God desires for us to be able to pause from our busy schedules to experience Him fully. If our lives are constantly on the go, constantly full of other people, and other voices, then there is a real danger that we can miss hearing what God is wanting to say to us.

Without times of quiet, it can be hard to listen to God’s voice and words. When we don’t stop to listen, we fail to miss the true trajectory of God’s will and direction for our lives. In the Bible “Be still.”

Catherine Doherty in her book Christian Spirituality of the East for Western Man writes, “Listen to God’s speech in his wondrous, terrible, gentle, loving, all-embracing silence.”

Without question, quietness may be something that we find hard to enter into, but it is considered a level of gold-medal importance for our walk with God.

GO

• Do you take opportunities to embrace the spiritual benefits of silence and solitude?
• Think for a while where the helpful pauses are (or perhaps need to be) in your busy schedule.

WORKOUT

Isaiah 30:15; Psalm 62:5; 1 Kings 19: 11 to 13; Luke 5: 16

OVERTIME

"O Lord my God, I pray for Your help that I may obediently find times to be quiet in Your presence. Deliver my life and routines from being so full and so noise-laden that I miss hearing Your guiding, encouraging voice in Your silent whispers to me. Father God, help me not to be afraid of silence but rather let me treasure it as precious gold, a valuable grace that You use to free me from myself and to take from me my activity and deeper into Your purposes for my life. Amen."