Sheer Silence
Jayme Blevins
Inspired by 1 Kings 19:11-12
“…but the Lord was not in the wind….
not in the earthquake…
not in the fire…
and after the fire
a sound of sheer silence.” —-1 Kings 19:11-12
When I was a kid, maybe eleven or twelve, I discovered the wonder and magic of the woods that surrounded the hollow that I grew up in. I ran to those woods to hide from bullies, to read without interruption, and to escape the harshness and roar of the world. Those woods became a sanctuary for me, and where I first met God. Today, as an adult, I now run to Shawnee State Forest here in Southern Ohio to escape the ear-splitting noise of our world. Sometimes, I still need silence.
Today, we are hounded by the buzz, ping, and ring of notifications on our phones. We are battered by politics and bad news through cable news networks, the constant allure of social media, and unrealistic expectations of the world. Our world is so loud that if we don’t unplug at times, we are under the threat of becoming mentally, physically, and even spiritually overcome.
In 1 Kings 19:11-12, we find the prophet Elijah in a similar state. Elijah was running from assassins who were hot on his trail. The great prophet was tired, scared, alone, and so depressed that he begged God to take his life. Elijah wanted God to do something. God sent an angel with food and water, to wake Elijah up, aEnd to tell Elijah to meet God on a mountain. We like the prophet, often want God to put on a big show. We want a glorious enveloping light, thunderous rumbling, the triumphant sound of angelic hosts singing, maybe even fog to add some drama.
However, in this story we learn once again that God doesn’t always meets our human expectations. On that mountain, Elijah was nearly knocked over by a powerful wind, a violent earthquake, and a fiery inferno… but God was not in any of those things. Instead, God was found in the sound of sheer silence. I love that!
There have been many times in my fifty years on this earth that I have found myself so overwhelmed by the noise, the demands, and the high expectations of our world that I wanted and needed to run away and find a safe place cloaked in silence. When the world is just too much I escape to the stillness of the forest and find God waiting there for me. It is in the sound of sheer silence that I am able to take a big sigh and breathe again. The trees, birds, the nearby stream, the smells of nature, and the silence heals my spirit because God is there in them and in the much-needed quiet.
So, the next time this world becomes too loud and just too much for you. Don’t wait for God to show up in some monumental epic show to rival that of the parting of the Red Sea. God invites you and me to sit in the sheer silence with Them for a bit and just be held.