Silence: A Lesson In Repetition


God gets my attention through repetition. How about you?

What I am continuing to discover in my almost four-decade "expotition" with my friend Jesus is He knows I don't usually get His lessons for me the first go-round.

He repeats.

He puts out virtual road signs. 

Sometimes He puts out literal road signs to garner my attention and my gaze.

He has specific Scripture rise to the surface again and again.

He puts a word in my path and writes it in all capital letters EVERYWHERE so I can't possibly miss it.

Silence has been the most recent. Jesus gave me almost a month of an empty nest to foster an atmosphere of solitude and silence. He has brought any number of lessons across my path to reinforce His message for this season. 

My life has been filled with noise outside my head for decades and self-imposed noise for far longer.

How do I avoid silence? How do you?
  • Music
  • Television
  • Internet surfing
  • Reaching out to others rather than awaiting the still, small voice of my Savior and friend
  • Spending what could be moments of silence in the presence of others
Emily P. Freeman often echoes the very longings of my own heart before I can compose those scattered thoughts to articulate them. This week's podcast is her own declaration to "Come Away for Awhile" in which she shared the quote above, in addition to several other wisdom nuggets like this one:

"If you don't come apart for awhile, you will come apart after awhile." ~Dallas Willard
That's something I've neglected for myself and my soul. Can you relate?

I ignore the signs of needing to pull away, to quiet myself, and to soak in the silence around me.

I've loaded my days  . . . and my nights with noise -- running my phone's music app to any number of different varieties of "noise", subconsciously filling every speck of consciousness with something other than silence.

God has been nudging me for weeks, prodding me to take action to change the way I live my numbered days. Here is what I've come up with so far:


  • Quiet Time: my quiet time must be exactly that. I turn on no music, morning show, podcast, or other voices during the time I designate specifically to hear from Jesus. 
  • Solitude: When I am intentionally taking time to quiet my heart and mind before Him, I take no other calls, write none of my own thoughts, and wait quietly for Him to speak. (this one is tough for me so far, especially the waiting with no writing part)
  • Nightly Silence: After I say "good night" to my son, I am silent until we speak again the next day. No music to fill the void, nothing but the whirring of the fan in my room to accompany me to sleep. I can't report with any accuracy yet, but I am speculating I may see some more restful nights without a constant stream of electronic accompaniment. This practice also may not last forever, but for the time being I am compelled to follow the Spirit's urging in this fashion.
So, how does Jesus choose to impart lessons to you? 

Does He have to repeat Himself and write it in the sky? 

Is there a word He's been impressing upon your heart? Let me know in the comments, and we can be praying for one another. 

Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to be about:

Leaving a trail of beauty~





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