It’s a beautiful sound, the sound of silence, and yet it’s not a sound but the absence of sound.
When I was a little girl, my mom would put my dad’s monstrous headphones on my head so I would stop talking and listen to music while she did other things. When the music finished, I’d ask her to play it again, and if she were busy, she’d say to me in Spanish, “escucha el silencio,” which means listen to the silence.
As a little girl, I wasn’t very good at listening to silence. With age comes an appreciation for things that, in years past, seemed to have little value.
Silence may be one of the more valuable tools we have in our spiritual toolbox. Silence allows us to listen, to feel, and to contemplate. It’s an essential ingredient to helping us find stillness. And stillness leads us to interior rest, in other words, abiding in the presence of God. Now, that’s not to say that we don’t experience the presence of God in many different ways; we certainly do. However, I’m referring to that inner stillness that brings forth an unmistakable peace- the peace that surpasses all understanding.
It sounds easy enough: create silence, find stillness, and abide with God. Oh, if it were that easy. Well, perhaps for some, it is. But, for me, it means surrender, yielding, letting go, and accepting, over and over again; therein lies the challenge, or perhaps an opportunity to practice.
Surrender is perhaps the most onerous spiritual discipline. Surrender means to yield, give way to, or give up what is heavy, worrisome, burdensome, or overwhelming. I boil this down to simply trusting that God’s got this, and I don’t have to.
Whatever is plaguing us, keeping us up at night, our first thought of the day causing us anxiety, or just unrest, God wants to take this load from us. He didn’t intend for our burdens to be heavy. That’s not how He wants us to go through life heavy-laden.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
I’m sure you’ve heard this scripture passage hundreds, perhaps thousands of times and wondered why the burden is still around. I’m wondering, too, why I can’t, at times, get rid of the burden.
Here’s what I’ve uncovered: The burden remains when I haven’t fully surrendered; the less obvious is that I must not truly trust that God will, without a doubt, deliver, provide, or make a way. And lastly, there’s a good bit of pride lurking in that I think I can do it better, and do it without Him (silly me).
I’ve just completed a Novena on Surrender. Each day ends with, “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you; take care of everything.” Isn’t that lovely? Now, releasing, surrendering, and trusting is all that’s needed. Easy, right? Well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it just isn’t. But we keep trying, asking God to help us, and practicing surrender because the fruit of surrender is peace.
We will know that we have achieved surrender in a particular area of our lives when we experience Shalom peace: the peace that rests upon us and settles into our innermost being. It is unshakable peace, and you know, without a doubt, when you have it because you are free.
Consider taking time to be silent today. What is one thing you can practice surrendering?
10 Responses
Love the reflection. I need to practice more.
You and me both! We can help remind each other!
What a beautiful post. God has been saying “yield” to me lately and again in your blog! Like a road sign he’s saying for me to wait till it’s clear to go, but I’m so impatient. Thank you for your encouragement on this journey
Thanks Hannah! It is so hard to wait; I can completely relate. It really is all about trusting Him. I keep asking the Lord to help grow my trust so that I can be in that space of abiding with Him, which is where He longs for us to be.
Oh gosh Leslie had to laugh remembering how you were such a chatterbox and how putting Dad’s very large earphones on your little (3-4 year old ears) could make you remain quiet…..but once the music stopped you would ask: Mom, where is the silence?
It may have taken you years but I think you found it and now you are leading us to it. 😘😘
Love you, mom!
I need to let go of my thoughts, my plans and my ideas. Sometimes when someone is speaking to me instead of truly listening to them I plan what I’m going to say. I barely give them time to finish when I begin talking about myself. I’m asking God to help me surrender my “self” and truly listen to what the other person is saying. It is only then I can let God’s words flow in our conversation according to their needs. But sometimes it’s not what I’m to say to them, it’s what I need to hear from them. This is so hard to do but when I let go of “me” I receive God’s graces in others.
Thank you Karen for your honesty! I think most of us struggle with this, wanting to speak instead of listening. Such a good reminder to focus on the person in front of us. As Ecclesiastes says “there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
I love the idea of thinking of something to surrender each day. It makes it more palatable. Like taking small bites of something seemingly too big to do all at once.
Yes, I agree! Otherwise it feels like standing before a mountain too large to climb. One step at a time and all of a sudden we’ve made our way to the top!