quietness…

Last week after silent retreat… I went straight into teaching second graders Bible…

Before I began teaching I told them where I’d been… what I’d done… spent two days… silent…

Why…?! rang out across the room…

To hear God…

They sat wide-eyed as I shared my story… told them how we needed to be still… quiet… seek silence… to hear Him speak… I asked them to practice the same when they came to class… Be still… listen… be silent… so you can hear Him speak…

It worked for a moment…

This week… a week later… I ask… Do you remember what we practiced last week…?

I often begin by asking if they remember last week’s lesson… and usually that’s the only time they are quiet…

This week in response to the question… one girl said… Quietness… another said… Silence… and I thought… Hmmm… they were listening…

And in the second group I asked the same… some remembered there too… so I reminded both classes to practice silence so we might hear Him speak…

As one group got loud… I said… I don’t hear any listening… almost at once… a hush spread across the room…

Yes… it’s hard for second graders to sit after school even thirty more minutes… for one more lesson… but for most… through their answers… remembering… and responding… I see these children do want to hear… want to listen… to hear Him speak…

Of course… it’s hard for most adults to sit… listen… be still… seek silence… quietness… to hear Him speak…

One woman shared today… how she wanted to hear… see… what God had to say… and she realized… it takes practice… it’s not simply a gift some have and some don’t…

The truth is… it begins with desire to hear Him speak… then practice… building spiritual muscles… to hear what He has to say…

Do you have as much desire as a second grader…? to hear Him speak to you…? to make an effort to be still… listen in quietness… seek silence…?

I know the years… decades… I’ve practiced… sitting quiet… listening… have all been worth it…

To hear Him speak truth to my heart… even correction… is always overwhelming…

Take a moment today… sit still… seek silence… quietness… see what you hear…

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:9 NIV

If a second grader can… even for a moment… so can you…