Be still, and know that I am God. – Psalm 46:10a, NKJV
A few weeks ago I decided to do something I’ve never done before. I went to a small cabin in the middle of the woods to spend a few days alone with God.
One of the first things I wrote in my journal after arriving was, “The sound of a clock ticking amidst the silence is deafening.” With every second there was a constant reminder of the solitude I had chosen. It wasn’t until the following day that noisy little mechanical clock on the wall helped me learn a simple but important lesson.
The next morning I woke up to rain which unfortunately continued all day. I found myself standing by the window listening to the rain fall hoping it would stop long enough for me to go outside if even just for a little while. As I stood there God whispered, “Do you still hear the ticking?” It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I couldn’t. What once was overpowering was now silent to my ears because I had inadvertently distracted myself with something else. As I stood by the window straining my ears to hear, I again found the ticking noise.
During that time away in the small cabin, there were several things which distracted me from the sound of the clock. There was the sound of the heater and fridge. There were the small critters outside the window who quickly became my friend when they realized I controlled whether there was food in their feeder. There was of course the sound of the rain. None of these things were bad but each of them in their own unique way caused me to lose track of the ticking sound which never once stopped nor missed a beat.
I of course didn’t go to a small cabin in the middle of the woods to listen to a clock but I can’t help but wonder how often God’s voice gets drowned out by the distractions of everyday life. After returning from the cabin I can say I’m way more aware when I enter a room with a mechanical clock and I pray we are even more aware of when God is trying to speak to us.