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“The world is enough to busy us, not to fill us,” says Thomas Watson. If this is true, then why are we Christians often so busy and so empty? Why do we prefer the hubbub of activity to silence? Or to put it more forcibly: why are we so fearful of silence? Are we afraid of God’s voice which we can sometimes only hear when other voices are hushed? Or are we unwilling to confront our own thoughts which take control when we are quiet? Or do we wish to drown out our accusing conscience which takes advantage of the quiet? Whatever the reasons, over-busyness often prevents us communing with the Almighty, and is therefore an enemy to the healing power that silent meditation and prayer inevitably works in our hectic lives.


In Kneeling We Triumph, Volume One by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, there are several readings on this subject. Oliver G. Wilson, editor of Wesleyan Methodist for many years, relates an interesting experience in his own life:
“For some time, things had not been going satisfactorily according to my poor limited vision. World situations were distressing and far beyond any solution that I had to offer. Business was not going as in my judgment it should go. I felt keenly that I had been taken advantage of, and spent much of the night turning restlessly in bed. Tensions, frustrations, impossible situations, disagreement among trusted friends, all plagued me. At the close of the second day, when night had settled and nature was putting itself to bed, there came from memory this portion of the Psalm learned long years ago, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’
“It came with such force, with emphasis upon each word such as no man could give it; my heart melted. A song, seasoned with happy tears, was sung within my soul: ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ Very much of our trouble and anxiety arises from our useless chatter, from our ceaseless activity, from our reliance upon our own wisdom. We have a guilty feeling if religion is not doing something. We want progress, but back of progress must be peace. One does not need a brass band to appreciate God. His mercy, His grace, His presence, when realized, overwhelm us.”

Be still sometimes—so still that God may speak,
And make His voice heard in thy waiting heart.
Sometimes the hush of His calm presence seek;
From all the world’s confusion come apart,
And silence even praise, and breathe no prayer,
But only wait for Him to meet thee there.
Be still sometimes! Be still enough to hear
The faintest whisper of His voice, and feel
The touch of His dear hand, when He draws near,
Himself unto thy spirit to reveal.
God will His deepest truths to thee make known,
Only when thou art silent and alone.
—Edith Hickman Divall.
The above quotations are taken from Kneeling We Triumph Volume One, compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey and published by Harvey Christian Publishers. This book and its companion, Kneeling We Triumph Volume Two, are available in their Online Christian Bookstore.

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