Listen For God

(2 Minute Read)

By Heidi Schartner

How can silence seem so deafening? I mean really, silence can have the exact opposite effect. It can be so very loud.

Waiting for a doctor’s call. Waiting for a job interview. Waiting for a text response (side note, those little three dots that show up and then magically disappear are unnecessary torture).

Silence can be really, really loud. But then there are times that silence is beautiful. And necessary.

One of my favourite passages is ‘A time for everything’ found in Ecclesiastes 3. This passage has brought me great comfort when silence isn’t my friend.

The year 2020 has been filled with an uncomfortable silence for me. But it has been in those quiet moments that I am reminded that my timing just isn’t that important. Trusting that God’s timing is indeed perfect is a hard lesson to learn. And one I keep having to relearn. But our God is patient and for that I am grateful.

The silence I hear might not be the tune I want to listen to, but it does force me to listen more intently on what God is trying to tell me. My encouragement for us all is to ignore the distractions that enter our silence and that we turn towards God. Because there really is a time for everything… and His timing is always more perfect than ours. 

A QUESTION FOR YOU:

What is your ‘God’s timing is perfect’ story?

“A time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak… (Ecclesiastes 3:6-7)