Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Revelation 8:1
New English Translation
In Revelation 8, some pretty crazy stuff is happening. Hail and fire mixed with blood, burning fire thrown into the sea, a giant star blazing like a fire and falling toward the earth, and poisoned waters just to name a few things. However, none of those things are nearly as interesting to me as verse 1.
At the very beginning of this chapter, we begin with silence before God. No one spoke. No one made loud declarations of praise. Nothing. Nothing for a half hour. That’s no small potatoes. When’s the last time you tried to sit in silence? How long did that last? Yet, the entire throne room of God was full of people and creatures and not a sound was made.
I think something that we’ve lost sight of is the importance of simply being in God’s presence and waiting on what He’s going to do. We’ve gotten so used to begging in prayer or making loud declarations of what we believe He’s going to do that we don’t know the art of simply letting Him be Him. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with prayer and praise, and both of those are encouraged in Scripture; however, we are also told to wait on the Lord and to be reverent before Him.
Plus, those aren’t the only distractions in our world, either. We can get distracted by all the busy things in life. The phone calls, text messages, work obligations, friends, complicated relationships, tasks, and duties that we never stop and be with God. Sometimes, we just have to learn to slow down and clear the schedule so we can be with Him and learn from Him and hear Him.
Not only are we supposed to be reverent, but we’re supposed to be obedient to Him. You know when your parent asked you to do something but you were so zoned into whatever it was you were already doing that you never heard them? It was pretty hard to obey them in that moment, wasn’t it? And it wasn’t because you didn’t want to obey, but you had no idea that there was something you were supposed to be obeying. It can be that way with God too.
I’m guilty of this just as much as anyone else, maybe even more! I sit down with my Bible and my journal, I get ready to study and spend time with God, and my mind starts to wander. I start thinking about the things that happened the day before, bunny trailing through questions in my heart and head, and sometimes even getting distracted by my phone. Then, I rely on Sunday worship for my distraction free time with God, which is good, but not complete if it’s the only time I’m trying to slow down and be with Him distraction free (which sometimes it isn’t even!).
So, I have to ask myself the question, am I willing to shake things up so that I can be silent before God? Or am I uncomfortable with simply being with Him? See, we’re so used to having to do things with people to feel like we’ve really spent quality time with them. Yet, quality time is just spending time with someone and cherishing it. How often do we just cherish being with God? I know I’ve not done that nearly enough.
Here’s my challenge to you and me, let’s make sure we set aside some time to be silent with God and wait on what He’s going to do. This is a time where we’re not asking for anything, we’re not telling Him anything, but we’re sitting with Him and loving being in His presence. Maybe that’ll be in the morning for you, or it could be a night routine. Doesn’t matter when you do it, it just matters that you do it. Are you ready to be with Him?