Silence of the Lamb...

I have read that about 75% of human beings are extroverts, people who draw their energy from interacting with others. They are fueled by their contact with people, building up their internal power supply by drawing on the electricity in the air surrounding the group. These interactions energize and kindle the fire within them, motivating and recharging their lives.

These days, we are surrounded by noise of all kinds. People demand a constant flow of information, most of which is never even processed as something new replaces it before we have had a chance to glance at the headlines. We have video reports, audio reports, written reports. We get information from television, radio, computer and cell phone. Wherever we are, our eyes, ears and minds are constantly barraged with information.

The biggest problem with all the sensory noise is how easily the most important information gets lost in the deluge. Kim Kardashian's wedding is given equal air time with the ongoing strife in Libya. The latest unemployment numbers are given the same attention as low interest rates. Whether or not the head of an international organization raped a hotel maid is as newsworthy as the violent assault on the convey carrying the U.S. Ambassador to Syria. How do we sort out the information we need to know from the merely interesting, when it is all presented in the same, urgent way? How do we make sense of how all that information is connected or find what is meaningful, when we are never given a chance to stop and think about any of it before something new is already in front of us?

Most people are uncomfortable with silence. We want solutions and guidance and we want them now, not necessarily when we are ready to receive them. But God has his own time frame. Eternity is a bigger picture than we see, and our wait of a lifetime is but a moment in his time.

Every evening, I spend time talking to my mother. She is a very quiet person, often silent for extended periods. Sometimes that silence frustrates me, because I feel like she is not engaged with what I'm saying, although I know she cares very much about my life. Recently, my daughter has complained that I do the same thing to her. She will call to talk to me, and I listen quietly, saying little. She feels that I am not engaged with what she is telling me, that I am not really listening. Her complaint has put my conversations with my mother into a new perspective, and I suddenly understand her in a new way.

Because the truth is the opposite of what my daughter thinks. When she calls me, everything stops so that I can listen and focus on what she is saying. I put my whole energy into it; she has my complete attention. Quite often, the more engaged I am, the less I say, because I am listening, not just to her words, but also to her heart, and what she is leaving unspoken. The very time she feels I've tuned her out is actually the time I am most tuned in.

God engages us with his silence. When we feel he is not answering, he may be listening to our needs and waiting until we are ready for the answer. In Psalm 46:10 (NIV,) we read, "Be still, and know that I am God." In the hustle and hurry of everyday life, it is easy to overlook the conversation that will most help us in finding direction and meaning for ourselves. Jesus cried out to God from the cross in anguish because he felt God wasn't listening. But we know that in the end, he was the sacrificial lamb that bore the burden for our salvation, and God's plan for him, and for us, was fulfilled. Perhaps when you feel God is silent, it is because he is listening to you and waiting for you to be ready for him.