Breaking the Fear of Silence

Why is silence so scary? Think about it. We are rarely in a completely silent environment. Even if I miraculously find myself home alone, chances are I’ll have music playing or the TV running just for “background noise.” But why? What is it about pure silence that makes us uncomfortable?

My husband has been preaching a series called “1000 minutes.” The idea is that we need to be responsible with each minute of each day. That we should minimize wasting our time, and instead, use each minute to the fullest. Part of the challenge was to spend 10 minutes daily reading the Bible, 10 minutes in prayer, and 5 minutes in total silence. I was doing pretty good until he got to yesterday’s message on silence and solitude.

To illustrate the point of the message, he began his message with no words at all. He used posters boards to communicate with us at first, and it was surprising how uncomfortable I found it. It was as if as soon as his voice finally kicked in, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

But why?

I think we’re afraid of what we’ll hear in those times of silence. What event from our past that we’d much sooner forget will come to haunt us when it’s quiet enough to remember? What fear will creep in when there’s no noise to block it out? What self-doubt will scream at us over the silence? I think we fear the negative things that can happen in silence, and forget the fact that God is also found in the silence. We’ve filled our minds with noise in an attempt to keep the things we fear at bay, but we’ve also kept ourselves from hearing His voice in the process.

Take a moment of silence today. Clear your mind of all distractions. Then, start to really listen. God will speak to you. You just need to give Him the opportunity to do so.