Practicing the Silence

BY REV. DORAL PULLEY

“And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11

In a society where communication is the order of the day, silence and stillness is something that we need to practice daily in small bite size pieces until it really becomes a part of who we are and what we do on a regular basis (Psalm 46:10).

With so many outside voices such as family, friends, co-workers, classmates and neighbors, it is challenging for many of us to be quiet and hear the still small voice of God inside of us (I Kings 19:11-13). With the constant stimulation through our cellphones, watches, laptops, iPads and desktops, stillness can be a stretch for some of us (Habakkuk 2:20).

With the pressure to keep up with ongoing activity of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, time for silence may seem impossible. With the demand to respond to so many emails, voicemails, text messages, paper mails, faxes, within a 24-48-hour period, silence is often the last thing on our minds. With so much noise of the world, silence needs to be intentional.

Some people benefit from stillness and silence being in the morning and others do it at night or both. Each day let us pause for a moment of silence, where everything and everyone else is cut off so that we can hear what is really going on inside of us.

Each day let us take the time to close our ears to all other noises so that we can clearly hear the voice of God (John 10:27).  God has so much that to share with us, but we are not hearing it because Spirt often speaks in a still small voice (Revelation 2:7).  Let’s follow Paul’s advice to the church at Thessalonica and enroll in the course of silence and study to be quiet.

Rev. Doral Pulley is the senior pastor of Unity Temple of Truth Church, 511 Prescott St. S, St. Petersburg.