"For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken." (Psalm 62:1-2)
I think silence scares most people. It makes us uncomfortable and uneasy. We find it unsettling to be with another person when the conversation suddenly lags and we are left with awkward silence. We use iPod's and TV's and radios to save us from having to endure silence in our homes and cars and workplaces. It's almost as if we know that silence will expose something in us if we stay in it long enough.
That's why I think God is often absent--not in his actual presence, but in our perception; Why God doesn't immediately respond when we call out to Him; Why God creates times when we've done all the right spiritual stuff and all we're left with is a "waiting silence." It's in those moments that God wants us to face up to the things our hearts would otherwise run to as a "rock" and "fortress" and "salvation." Silence, like almost nothing else, will give us a sense of "void" that will reveal where are hearts go to be filled for a sense of security. If we sit in silence long enough, we'll see parading before our consciousness the whole series of counterfeit gods that we run to in times of stress. They will beckon us to indulge in them, to trust in them, with false promises of how they will satisfy our desires and longings.
But in the silence these counterfeit gods are also exposed. Without the usual distractions of noise in our life, it's easier to see how inadequate these things really are, how un-rock-like their foundation is. So silence can bring us to the point where we reject those lies we've believed (and are still tempted to believe), and reaffirm that "for God alone my soul waits." Only God provides what my soul craves and needs in a lasting way. And often silence is the only way for me to know that all over again.
