The Sound of Silence (But the Disturbed cover. Don't @ me)

Welcome (back) to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. 😄 I hope you enjoy your time here.

WOW. It has been a minute since I have posted anything. I apologize for that but there was a conscious decision to postpone this blog entry because I was not satisfied with the words I was writing. I was not living what I was saying and I wanted to change that. So now I am back and ready to share my thoughts.

The tile for today’s post was inspired by The Sound of Silence, a song originally done by Simon and Garfunkel but for whatever reason, I prefer the cover done by Disturbed better. While listening to the song about two weeks ago I was struck by a few of the lyrics. And I noticed how well they fit with my own struggle with silence and trying to hear the voice of God.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

I was struck by how often I lose patience while praying and fill the silence with my ramblings instead of waiting to hear God respond to me. I have struggled with hearing the voice of God for a while now. It is one of the saddest parts of my relationship with Him, at least to me personally. I know a lot of Bible verses by heart and I read the daily Scripture passages every morning but beyond that, I struggle. I know what things are considered a sin but how do I choose between two good options for my life? It is something I need to work on for sure. But first, like most things I do, I would like to figure out the why. Why do I struggle?

While I was thinking about silence and why it is so elusive to me, I was able to see three different possible reasons for this challenge. First of all, moments of silence and quiet are rare so I have little practice. As a millennial, I am sure it comes as no surprise that I am a bit addicted to my phone and being constantly connected. But the final reason I believe is the most crucial. Most of all, I am scared of the silence. This was made obvious to me when I tried especially to incorporate silence into my Advent. It was incredibly difficult.

There are a few reasons why I am scared of the silence, especially in my prayer time. What will He say? What do I have to give up in my life to follow Him? I know from experience and from others’ testimonies that following God is uncomfortable. But I also know from the stories I have heard that it is always worth it. So I have to decide what to do. Overcome my fear or let it destroy me.

I am going to overcome my fear.

I have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. The Psalm for today, Psalm 128 brought me some comfort. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.” I can follow Jesus and still be afraid. What is important is that I am following His will and laws. Another thing that I can do is make sacrifices so that I have more time in my day for silent prayer. I currently spent about 15 or 20 minutes doing my morning prayer routine. But, if I get up 15 minutes earlier I can use that time to be completely silent with the Lord. Most of all I have to be ready for the Voice of God to come in a way that I do not expect. These adjustments will not be easy. But like I said before, it will be worth it. Hearing His Voice in the silence, now that is some beauty in the crazy.

☀️💙