Bridgeway Christian Church

I thought I’d go through the sermon notes from when Pastor Justin preached on silence… First off don’t get the wrong idea about me, I’ve never used the sermon notes before, I have enough trouble trying to find time to consistently read the bible, much less study it.  But I’m trying to make an effort to connect closer to God, and I was having trouble reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, so I thought I’d give the sermon notes a shot.

The first question in the notes was about experiencing a natural phenomenon like an earthquake, tornado, thunder storm, etc.; and how you felt during it.  That was an easy one… I had been through the 1989 earthquake, and a few awesome thunder storms since, and I really felt the power of God in those times.  

But the second question is the one I want to focus on.  It asked you to try and be silent for three minutes and to discuss your thoughts on it later with someone – so you guys are the lucky ones!  Three minutes…  I knew that three minutes of silence for me was going to seem like an eternity.  But I really wanted to experience and connect with God, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.  I sat back in my office and closed my eyes.

Tick, Tock, Tick Tock… No, that’s not the time passing.  That’s the sound of the dang clock on the wall!  “Come on” I tell myself, “shut it out, press on”.  Bang, bong, thump… There are workmen upstairs installing cubicles! “I can do this” I say to myself, “Be strong”.   Tick, Tock, Bang, Bang, I was able to manage to shut that off – only to realize that I’ve blocked out the external noise with talking to myself about blocking out the external noise!  So in my head I tell myself to just relax and be calm….  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, …  Now my subconscious is counting the tick tocks of the clock, and I’m talking to myself about how I should be writing this all down for an article to write!  Geesh!

I couldn’t make it two minutes before I had to ‘just write down a few things’ so that I could remember what I wanted to write about… After making a few quick notes I tried to get back to being silent, but didn’t really have much luck.  When I decided that I couldn’t sit silently I just finally stopped and decided to write about the experience – all the while feeling like a poor pathetic loser!  

Then it dawns on me what a metaphor for my life this is.  I’m not finishing my bible study to try and connect WITH God today, so that I can write something that I’m trying to convince myself is FOR God (when actually its about my ego of being noticed)!  Which do you really think God would want me to do - Finish writing, or sit silently and experience him?  You and I both know the answer.  But in my struggles with getting closer to God, I find it us easier to discuss my struggles than actually do something about them.  That seems to always be the way for me.  

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” Psalm 37:7

So I’m still sitting here writing and not making an effort to experience God… So please pray for me that I find strength in my walk to be silent before the Lord sometime.  I’m gonna really try soon to just sit in silence and experience God.  But I’m certainly going to look for a quieter place, like maybe out in the country under the trees.  I learned that I don’t have the aptitude to totally block out the external noise of this world yet, so I have to go to a place where the noise is only from God’s creation.  I think the sounds of nature will be much more calming and soothing, and hopefully I’ll be able to hear God’s voice.  If not, I know He’ll at least give me some peace in the process.  If you find a good way sit silently for three minutes I’d love to hear how you did it!  Good Luck!