It’s amazing what you hear when you get still and quiet.  Early this morning in a 15 minute period of quiet I heard a dog barking in the distance, wind chimes in the breeze, the horn of a train, the distinct sound of the nails of my dog’s paws as he walked across our wooden floor to lay down beside my chair – his relaxed breathing that followed, the creaks & popping noises of our house, the growling of my own stomach and my relaxed breath, sounds of sleep from another room, the starting of the refrigerator compressor and sounds of distant traffic.

While this was going on I was trying to listen for one other sound.  The sound of the Spirit of God speaking to my heart.  One thing I’m doing in my time alone with God is learning to be quiet and listen, so in addition to reading and reflecting on Scripture and praying, I’m spending at least 15 minutes in silence to listen.

Psalm 46:10 has become a life verse for me.  In it, God says:  “Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth.”   In the Message paraphrase it reads: “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”   So as a part of my morning, or sometime during my day if I miss it in the morning, I’m adding 15 minutes of silence to focus on and listening more intently to God.   

Oh and BTW – my mind wanders too.

And as an added bonus, I’m trying to add several times during each day where I do this by finding a place to get quiet for additional 5 minute periods of silence.