A Time To Be Silent

“There is a time for everything… a time to be silent and a time to speak….”

– Ecclesiastes 3:1a, 7b

Who treasures up anything in their heart anymore?  Who ponders these days?  In the age of twitter, facebook, texting, e-mail, reality TV — is anyone silent?  Are there opinions not spoken?  Thoughts, ideas, frustrations, political leanings not shared?  Who treasures and ponders?  Do you?  Treasure?  Ponder?

This Luke verse follows right after the account of the shepherds who had been to see the baby Jesus and were now “spreading the word concerning what had been told them about the child.”  And the first word in the next verse is “but”.  “But Mary….” The thought being that Mary, rather than spreading the word about her new baby boy was treasuring and pondering.  There would be a time to speak, but now was the time to be silent.  And interestingly, in the Ecclesiastes verse the time to speak follows the time to be silent.

Might the Lord desire that some of what He drops into your heart and mind stay private, just between the two of you?  Or does everything private have to be made public?  There is a time to speak, but maybe the time to be silent is now.  There is a time to spread the word, but maybe the time to treasure is today.  There is a time to twitter or text or update your facebook status, but maybe the time to ponder is this moment.

“What is sacred when all is spoken?” (Ann Voskamp)

I am not anti–Facebook, Twitter, Texting, E-mailing, Blogging, Pinning or Liking. (Clearly, since this is my blog and I also am on Pinterest.)

But, I am pro-treasuring and pondering.

I am pro–keeping some things between God and me, not as secrets, but as holy nuggets of wisdom and revelation that are for me alone.

I am pro–silent times and quiet times and times when the distractions in my life are low and my seeking God and listening to Him are high.

Two times in Luke 2, verses 19 and 51, Luke writes of Mary “treasuring” – “Mary treasured up all these things,pondering them in her heart.”   “And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”

What about you?

Are you “treasuring” up the things of the Lord?  “Pondering” them in your heart?

Or are you texting, tweeting, posting, emailing, blogging, pinning and liking so much there is nothing left to ponder and no time left to treasure?

Do you plan time in your day to listen for and hear the still small voice of the Lord? And then treasure it, keeping the holy moment in your heart?

Into the silence of our lives comes creativity and promptings and revelations and wisdom and words from God.

Do I believe that God can speak in the middle of a TV show or a movie or a song?  Absolutely!

But to really ponder and treasure there must be stillness and silence. God comes in the stillness and the silence.  If we don’t arrange our days so there is stillness and silence at least for a piece of it, we will miss opportunities to be swept up in holy conversations with the God of all creation.

What is sacred when all is spoken?

There is a “time to be silent and a time to speak.”

What do you do to bring stillness and silence into your days?  How do you hear the voice of God?  What have you pondered lately?  What things have you treasured up in your heart?