Do you like to have silence around you?  Not a little slow down, but true deep silence?

Picture it.  24 hours of pure silence, no one around you.  No phone, no media, no books.  I’ll go further, no Bible.

What would that look like for you?  Would you go crazy?  Would you just try to sleep it away?

The Rabbit Hole

Now let’s go further down the rabbit hole.  Ready?  This might sting a little.

What if you were given the assignment to only think about yourself? Better yet, what if someone confronted you with who you are, and then left you alone for the day of silence?  What if all you could think about for 24 hours in pure silence, was you?

If you are like most people, and you probably are, this would be a challenge that could really push you.  Most people would rather chose a different day then this.  Could you do it?

Too many of us, when confronted with who we are in moments of silence, will try to run away from ourselves.  Thinking about who we are rather than what we want to do is a hard pill to swallow.  But, there is good news.

The Good News

Let me start by saying that I have never done this above assignment.  It is fictitious.

But let me tell you something about myself that is true.  Silence used to really challenge me.  Why? Because silence made me deal with who I thought I was. There was nothing to distract me from being me.

One way that I like to describe part of my journey in identity right now is this.  When someone asks me about identity, I love to say this one line.

I used to hate myself, almost like a spiritual discipline of denying my own flesh, but it turns out, that’s not of God.  It’s of the devil.

Now, I could spend all day with me… I’m Awesome 🙂

I hope you see my peace.  I hope you see my comfort.  This is not a statement of arrogance at all, but a statement of calm, rational peace in my identity.  I can finally see what Jesus sees in me.  It feels so great.

The silence no longer kills me.  I don’t know if I could do the 24 hour thing, but I do know that silence is now my friend.

The good news is, you can have peace with yourself too.  You can spend all day with you too, cause, well, you are so awesome.

So Give This A Try

OK.  Here is one little thing I do.  I want you to try it.  You may have to do it for a few times, but it’s my gift and challenge to you.

Step One

Find a quite spot.  No distractions.  You don’t need long, so just find something.

Step Two

Set a timer on your phone for 5-10 minutes.  Your call.  Perhaps start with 5 minutes and add a minute a day for a week.  See if you can do it. When the timer goes off, you can talk again.

Step Three

Ask God what He loves about you, then wait.  In complete silence.  No talking back to Him.  Just wait.  Listen.  If something comes to mind, then think about it.

Here is a trick.  God loves to talk about how you love others.  Think about that.  How do you like to show love to others?  God is in that. He made you to love.  So think about how you love others and you will see what He sees in you.

Step Four

Repeat Tomorrow.

 

Give it a try.  I know it can help you start to be less afraid of silence.  It can help you to be less afraid of being alone with yourself.  Remember, you can have the victory over silence I have.  You can be alone with yourself, your’e awesome.

In Christ,

Dr. Brad