Still Waters

One of my favourite verses of recent years has been "Be Still and Know that I Am God." Although it doesn't specifically mention silence, I sense that it may be implied. How can we hear from God if we never close our mouths, if we never close out the noise of life, if we never even Sabbath for a few minutes?   We used to joke that lockdowns were a bit like a month of Sabbaths (more like years!). However, home life is not very silent in general, let alone when it was lockdowns. I would not change that for the world. I love my wee family, and they deserve a father or husband who gives them good attention. There is also now a demand for TV from our kids (which, as Wilkerson put, it can seem like a sewer running through your living room, I wonder what that makes smart phones for us adults!) Then my job as a support worker was hardly silent and certainly not that of calm solitude at times, equally so with my new job as an ASN Outdoor Learning Assistant. Care was an essential role, and I am grateful to God that I had the provision of a job in such uncertain times. The opportunity to be a keyworker was both anxiety inducing and, at the same time, an honour.  I'm also glad about the new job and opportunity to venture into a slightly different direction. The church we go to is fairly upbeat, like others of recent years. These churches can even master liveliness whilst they were online. I love lively Christianity as it is very in keeping with the word Hallelujah, which my wife often reminds me means effectively to make a loud shout unto the Lord. So, again, I am grateful for the style of churches we frequent. However, I also deeply love the still, the calm, the silence. This is the place where I find God best as a contemplative, socially anxious, and introverted sort. In a fast-paced, loud world, finding time for silence is a worthwhile challenge. I pray God guides me and all who thirst for it to his still waters.   Come apart to dwell with him. Draw nigh to Him, and He will draw nigh to you. Even if only for one minute at a time, take moments to be still and know Him as God.