Meeting God in the Uncomfortable Silence

As a stay at home mom, I've had to adjust to a new pace of life. It isn't like that of a working woman, living in a constant flurry of mental activity. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to do. Laundry, picking up toys, feeding, changing, disciplining, and interacting with little ones. But it is a different pace. There is a slowness to it, even a monotony that can easily bring frustration, boredom and loneliness.

But I am learning that God has something in this new pace of life for me. Instead of running from the uncomfortable silence that haunts me when naptimes come, I feel Him calling me to meet Him. I feel Him quietly asking me to stop running to the TV, to music, to a good book or housework during those times of stillness. Instead, I feel Him calling me to drop what I'm doing, sit down, open my Bible and my heart and meet Him.

It's so easy in our American culture and mindset to feel bad about ourselves if we are not being "productive" with our time. It's especially hard when the housework needs seem endless, to make a decision to spend that hour in prayer, talking to God, instead of doing something "productive" that I can check off my to-do list.

But I know, deep down, that spending time with God is more productive than anything else in the world. I know that by spending time with my Heavenly Father, who knows my every need, hurt and desire, that I will change from the inside out. I know that my thoughts, my attitude, and my actions will begin to line up with His.

But it isn't even for that reason that I spend time with Him. I don't spend time with Him just so I can be a better person (even though I do truly desire to become more like Jesus everyday of my life!). I spend time with Him because deep down, I truly believe that we have been created to be satisfied in nothing else. No person, no TV show, no book, no activity, NOTHING, is as satisfying as spending time with the One who created us.

As John Piper puts it, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

My challenge today for myself and all my readers is to be willing to meet God in the uncomfortable silences of life. Maybe you're not a stay at home mom. But we all have those times of silence - those times when it's tempting to find a mind-numbing activity to block out the loneliness, the stillness, and the boredom we feel. But I challenge you during those times, that instead of running to that mind-numbing activity, whatever it may be, that you would run to the Lord and meet Him, that you would open your Bible, open your heart and talk to Him, and be still long enough to listen, to hear Him speak to You...because there is nothing more satisfying than Him.