Today has been a day of contemplation. I spent the day with the Co-ordinating Group for Youth Work of Churches Together in England today (more of that in the next post tomorrow) in Woking. For a change, and because I felt it was ‘right’, I drove to Woking without the radio on and in silence, just to hear God’s perspective on a lot of things rushing around my brain at the moment.

The day today started with worship led excellently by Louise Kenyon from the Church of the Nazarene Theological college. It just so happened that Louise used the Rob Bell/Nooma DVD called silence, which caused me to smile.

I became aware in this short time that I had, like Elijah, been looking for God in all the wrong places. In the storm, in the clouds, in the activity and busyness of my everyday life. I have been looking for God in the community, searching for where he is working in peoples lives, trying to gain clues about what he is doing, so that ‘I can join in’.

This is ok to do, but it struck me today that in my searching questions of ‘God what next?’, ‘God, what do you think of this?’, ‘God should I be here?’, ‘God should I continue with this?’, ‘God how can I make a difference here?’, ‘God, what is good news to these people?’, ‘God, how we can bring transformation here?’ and many other similar queries, that I had forgotten to just be still, be silent, and listen.

I feel daft as I know this. I have been here before many times. So often I have found that I cannot hear God in the busyness of this or that; to really hear him, and by that I mean to hear his thoughts, receive his guidance, glean something of his take on a situation -if I really REALLY want to hear that – then I have to still myself and be silent before God.

Rob Bell asks the question ‘why is silence so difficult?’I don’t know, some would say other distractions are sent to keep us away from silence and God, others would say it was our own fear of not honestly wanting to hear. I think I go along with that. Sometimes I really don’t want to know what God thinks, because I know it will mean me having to do something, to change something, maybe even to move again.

But still the fact seems to be – we hear God in the still small voice. To hear again, we need to re-engage, re-tune our minds, tune out noise, and tune in to God.

I did that today for 75 minutes in the car on the way to Woking. I was surprised how easy, once you get through the 15 minute barrier how easy it was. I think I heard some of God’s thoughts today and I think some things I had been thinking have been confirmed in other things today following that, which is exciting. Other things have been shelved, which is painful but probably necessary. Only time will tell.

Today – silence really was golden.