I struggle to be still.  My mind is usually busy, and unless I’m asleep, my hands are always doing something. How about you?

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Habakkuk was a prophet who lived around 600 B.C. I encourage you to read his book – it’s a short 3 chapters. In it, he questions God’s plan for Israel, especially for allowing the wicked to prosper and for using the Babylonians to punish Judah; he also recorded God’s response to his question.  In response to God, as a form of worship, he says, “Let the earth be silent before Him!” Can you imagine if the earth was silent? Can today’s culture ever be silent? Loud, boisterous, noisy – yes. But silent?

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Similarly, David wrote that God says to a loud and violent world, “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Ps. 46:10).

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In I Kings 19: 11-13, God tells Elijah that He will pass by. There was an earthquake and a fire, but God was not present in these loud, extravagant, violent things. Instead, He chose to reveal Himself to Elijah in a still, small voice. Not that God couldn’t have shown Himself in a loud, violent, forceful way (think of the energy involved in creating the universe), but He chose to use silence and stillness.

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So, I tried to practice silence. I committed to being still for five minutes. It sounded daunting, challenging. First, I had to find a silent place, free of visual and audio distraction (no kids, no spouse, no TV, no phone, no alarms – you might need headphones). I thought I’d be flooded with a multitude of distractions – did I turn off the oven? What’s that smell? What’s for dinner?  Is that an earthquake coming? When did I last change the smoke alarm batteries….

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Instead, I found that I delighted in the silence so much that I never got distracted, and the 5 minutes flew by. And during that time, God reminded me that:

He is powerful, and He is peaceful.

He is supreme, and He is silent.

He is Creator, and He is calm.

He is majestic, and He is meek.

He is terrific, and He is tranquil.

He is radiant, and He is restful.

He is colossal, and He is quiet.

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Too often, I think of God as being moving, creator, active, but He’s also calm and quiet. Remember, after six days of forceful, loud, even violent, creation, God rested.

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Today’s culture is full of noise. Sometimes, I think worship is, too. It’s easy to worship God with singing, crashing cymbals, and blaring trumpet (or drums, guitar, and keyboard), with hands held high. But what if tried to worship God in the silence?

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In this week’s devos, we’ve been looking at different ways to worship. Today is focused on worshipping with or in silence. Sometimes, our active worship is not enough – we cannot add to His majesty, to His glory, or to His holiness by anything we do or say. Worship is sacred, set apart for Him as being different. How different is silence is from the noise and busyness of the world? God’s way is remarkably different from the way of the world.

I challenge you to be still for five minutes and praise God in silence (you might want to have a notebook with you – not your phone – so that you can write down any thoughts that you can’t keep at bay).

Get rid of the noise.

Free yourself of distraction.

Calm yourself from anxiety and worry.

Focus on God and not on aches and pains or the growing “to-do list.”

Be still and know that He is God; worship Him in silence. You’ll be glad you did.