Silence and stillness before God is hard. It seems that our hearts and our minds naturally resist and push away from this aspect of engagement with God. Most of the other spiritual disciplines we practice are more active in nature, so stillness before God doesn’t seem to fit the mold. And yet, when we read Scripture, we find ourselves directed on multiple occasions to be still or silent before God. We see that stillness is one expression of a heart that is joyfully surrendered to a good and Almighty God. And perhaps this is one reason that stillness is so hard for us – because we naturally fight against real surrender – a real giving up of ourselves and of control.
Left to my own devices, I often find myself falling into one of two unhealthy modes of operation – either striving or escaping. Striving is probably my default posture most of the time – where I am trying to work hard in order to produce something, achieve something, or affect something. I often even spiritualize this way of life, thinking that the basis of the Christian walk is me working hard to do things for God. (We will not explore this now, but notice the utter lack of surrender and of God’s power in the way this pursuit is conceptualized here). In contrast, the opposite mode is not focused on production, but consumption. There are times when I feel tired, stressed, discouraged, or burnt out, and I think to myself that the main way of remedying this is to escape and rest. I think “I need a day off, I need a vacation, I need to cancel some previous commitments.”
Ironically, both of these modes of operation resist stillness before God. When I am seeking to produce something or affect some change, stillness before God seems like a waste of time – “What does it accomplish?” At those times, it seems like the opposite of spiritual discipline, it seems pointless and unproductive. On the other hand, when I am seeking to escape or trying to procure time for myself, the idea of stillness feels wearying – “it’s too hard, too much work, it won’t help me when I’m feeling depleted.”
This bouncing between doing and escaping, producing and consuming, is very common. And it is vital to realize that both our frantic or escapist attitudes about life and spirituality are utterly disconnected from the realities of who God is and the purpose for which he created us. At heart, the attitudes that resist being still before the Lord are often very self-centered. This self-centeredness can take on many forms – wanting to look good, wanting to produce a lot, wanting to be in control, wanting to impress God, wanting to be strong, wanting to avoid shame or criticism, wanting to be entertained, etc. So we fill up our time with any number of things and live very far from the realities of our awesome Creator and King who holds all things, and far from the reality of our kind and gracious Father.
In contrast, the Bible clearly calls us, at times, to be still, even to be silent. Consider a few examples:
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. Psalm 62:5
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15
All of these calls to stillness share the same context – they are all given in passages talking about the incomprehensible might of God and how he is an ever present refuge to his people. Our lack of stillness is usually rooted in small thoughts about God. Biblical stillness is the hope filled, confident quietness of God’s children as they turn their eyes towards their loving and mighty Father.
Since stillness – especially stillness before God – does not come naturally to most of us, this restful, quiet looking to God is something we must intentionally foster. The following activities give you the opportunity to slow down and intentionally be still with your good God. As you try them, set your hope on God and be patient with yourself. It is hard to be still. But in the stillness there is also great promise of blessing. In Isaiah 30, as God’s people are either frantically running around trying to take control of the situation, or are running away to the hills in order to save their lives, God invites them to be still. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you were unwilling… Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you… Blessed are all those who wait for him.” Stillness is not a waste of time – it is part of the living surrender to our good and mighty God. And in it, God promises rescue, strength, blessing, and his own gracious presence.
Lastly, this idea of slowing down and being still before the Lord is not something that we should relegate merely to times of spiritual retreat. What if God grew us into having this be the resting place of our minds, the place we naturally returned to in between thoughts and activities? How life-giving would it be if the charge to “pray without ceasing” became more true of us and if it was characterized by the return, rest, quietness, and confidence of one who knows their great God? Perhaps the call to pray without ceasing is actually a call not to franticness, but to rest.