Learning to shut up

I am not a quiet person. This is not how I'm most commonly described.

Enthusiastic

Demonstrative

Loud

Friendly

But never quiet.

Yet, last year, quiet is what God invited me to explore.

I love to pray. I don't always find it easy, or alive. Sometimes it's a struggle to choose to engage. But opening up conversation with God has been one of the greatest gifts He has given me.

I had to learn it.

I'm still learning.

About who He is,

What He's like,

Who I am and how he made me,

How I connect to him,

The ever present challenge of listening,

And how to bring the needs of the people, places, happenings around me to His attention.

I've prayed with thought, pen, voice, paint, music, movement, His word, and probably more. But until recently - I have avoided silence, stillness and waiting like the plague.

Honestly - I was nervous about what I'd find when I stopped.

When I finally took the plunge, at first, I thought his invitation was about learning to listen. (That's definitely part of it.) But four months into building a rhythm of stillness in my time with Him, I am realising that the silence I'm embracing is opening up silent spaces in me.

So I'm on a journey. It's going to take a while. But I have this feeling that finding the eye of the storm of my life, that place of stillness and presence, is opening up something new.

It's also making me want to write.

So... here I am. Back to Blogging, an old love in a new season. I don't know if it'll last. But for today I'm sharing. If you're on a similar journey or have your own wisdom on pursuing God in silence I'd love to hear from you.

(Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash)