Pastor B.J. Knefley

Have you ever taken the time to listen to the silence? Sometimes it’s decimating and loud all at the same time.

I’m presently sitting at a campground. Although there are people around, it is surprisingly quiet. I suppose it’s partly because there doesn’t seem to be any children around. I can hear the backup alarm on a piece of equipment, a mower, birds, and an occasional noise of a squirrel. Beyond that, there is nothing, just peace.

Earlier this morning, I was listening to a book through my Bluetooth hearing aids. When I finished, I turned off the audiobook and just sat back to take in what I had been both reading and listening to. (Yes, I often do both.) To my surprise, I suddenly became aware of all the noise around me. Keep in mind that it was 6:30 a.m., and no one was stirring; the campsite was quiet, yet I was being bombarded with seemingly every noise imaginable. When I took out my earbuds, I was suddenly aware of how everything went silent. WOW, is my hearing that bad that I’m missing much of what’s going on around me? Is that a good thing? During a hearing evaluation with an audiologist, I discovered that over the years, I had developed the ability to read lips. Although I wasn’t aware that I had done that, it soon became apparent that I had. The silence that I have learned to take for granted is because of hearing loss, not a spiritual practice, but I wonder if it should be.

Over the years, I have attempted to get quiet so that I could hear God. I’ve done well at the practice of getting calm, but the noise of my thoughts has a way of distracting me from the silence that I’m trying to achieve. As I thought about it, I realized that I could use my hearing loss as a way of practicing listening to the silence. I don’t have to find a quiet place; I only need to remove my hearing aids and effectively block out much of the noise distractions that are always around me. I know that God often speaks loudest in silence, and I’m going to give Him every opportunity to do so in my life. We don’t often see the blessings in the struggles of life, yet they are often there. Perhaps there’s an unseen blessing in the hearing loss. Think about it.