Are you one of those people who hate sitting with someone in silence?  Do you notice you have to fill the silence with some kind of noise or talking?  I know I used to be one of those people.  I felt awkward if I just sat with someone and no one was saying anything.  If they weren’t talking, my mind would go a mile a minute thinking, what should I say?  Oh no! I don’t know what else to talk about, what do I do.  Are you like that? Does it make you feel uncomfortable to sit in silence with someone?  What do you do, how do you feel? I’m so glad I don’t feel that way anymore.  If you do, let’s look at what the Bible says about silence, but first, let’s look at what silence means.

What is Silence?

Silence in Hebrew means hush! Keep silence!  In Greek, it means hush, silence.  Webster’s 1828 dictionary-stillness, or entire absence of sound or noise, as the silence of midnight.  Forbearance of speech in man or of noise in other animals.  Stillness, calmness, quiet, etc.  You get the point.

In the Bible, if you search for the word silence, many verses come up.  Some talk about us being silent, some talk about God being silent, or others in the Bible being silent; what about years of silence of no prophets?  There are times to talk and times to be silent.

When I think of being silent is when I’m spending time with God.  God wants us to spend time with Him. There are several ways to spend time with God.  One is to open your Bible and read it.  That is God’s Word; as you read it, it comes alive.  Have you ever read your Bible and you don’t understand what you just read?  Then, weeks to years later, you read and understand the same section?  That is Holy Spirit helping you understand it at the right time.  We are all growing and at different levels in our learning and with God.  You may not understand it the first time, but when the time is right, He wants you to know it will come alive, and it’s like the Words come off the page for you.

Spending Time with God through His Word

I’m in a group called Deep Dive, and we spend time diving deep into the Bible.  We read one chapter per week and really dive deep into that chapter.  While I’m diving deep into that chapter, we really dissect verses, which is called verse mapping.  This is a way to break down the verse and really understand what God wants us to know about that verse.  Reading your Bible is a way to spend quality time with God.  I know when I read, I start by praying first.  I ask God to help me understand what I read and to show me what he wants me to dive deeper into.  As I mentioned, we are all at different levels, so what verse does He want me to dive deeper into may be different for me than someone else. 

John 10:27-28 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

How do you know that God is highlighting something to you while reading the Word?  It will feel like you can’t get away from that verse; your eyes keep going back to that verse, and you have the desire to read it again even though you just read it.  It speaks to you and seems it was written for you or your situation.  If you see that, stop, write it down, and meditate on it.  Break it down and find out what each word means.  You can use an app on your phone or computer called Bible Hub to get the Hebrew or Greek meaning; you can see what other verses go with that verse through cross-referencing and what other versions of the Bible say about that same verse.  All these things help you understand it more.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

This verse tells us All Scripture is from the mouth/breath of God and profitable (useful; advantageous) for teaching, reproof (blame), for correction (bringing back, from error or deviation), and for training in righteousness (purity of heart and conformity of heart and life to the diving law, perfection or holiness of His nature).

Verse Mapping to Dive Deeper and Get Closer to God

I took this verse and did a small verse map to help us understand it.  To understand it even more, you could compare other scriptures, called cross references.  For example, one cross- reference is Deuteronomy 29:29: The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law. NIV

To understand that verse more, even though I gave definitions to some of the words, you could break those definitions down to find out what each word means.  You could break down your cross-reference verses.  There is so much you can do when you verse map; it helps you understand what God is saying to you.  And guess what, you are doing all of this in silence.  God is speaking to you, and you’re not talking.  You are meditating on God’s Word and listening to him as He speaks to you through His Word.

God Wants You to Spend Time with Him in Silence

Back to what I was talking about when I first started writing, are you one who must fill the silence?  When you are with a friend you usually have a conversation back and forth, you talk, they talk, etc.  God wants the same thing.  God wants to spend time with you outside of reading the Bible.  He wants you to come and worship Him in song, words, and silence.  Just like a friend, because He is your best friend, your Dad, He wants you to spend time with Him.  However, God wants time to talk, so there must be silence so you can hear what He has to say.

Psalm 62:5-8 ESV For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

God has so much to say if we just wait in silence. Waiting on God involves asking and waiting.  What does waiting do?  It helps us put our trust in God, for He knows all and sees all.  Give all trust to God, for He is the only One who knows and will never forsake us.

Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid or discouraged.

When I talk to God, I come to him humbly and say, as it says in 1 Samuel 3:9-10, “Speak, LORD, your servant is listening,” and then I wait to see what He says.  You can do this at any time, anywhere.  You can do it in your secret place, car, church, work, or anywhere.  Just as you would a friend, spouse, child, etc., you would want to give them time to speak.  I know now when I sit with people, I’m not afraid of the silence, sometimes just sitting in the silence helps us grow.  I learned this while spending time with God and waiting in the silence for Him to speak.

Silence allows a connection to God beyond what words can express.

There are times and seasons for everything.  There are times when you should be silent and when you should talk.  Just as it says in Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to tear, a time to mend.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak. NLT. 

In a fast-paced world, always being busy, overpacked schedules take time out of each day to spend not speaking but listening.  Say, “Speak, LORD, your servant is listening, and see what God has to say today.  Ask Him, LORD, what do you want me to know today, right now?  Then, write down what He has to say.  Take some time to be silent in your busy day.  He wants to be there for you, and He is a gentleman and just waiting for you to take the time to spend with him.  Take the time to read the Bible and see what He is saying to you in HisoWrd.  Take the time to go to your quiet place, sit in silence, and give Him his time to talk.  You will be amazed at the plans He has for you.

Today, I’m one to sit, not speak, and just listen.  It’s amazing how much you learn by sitting in silence. 

Sitting in silence with God, I get to feel His love cover me. Just as I’m sitting in silence with my husband and child, I enjoy that time because we may not be saying anything, but I still feel the love and comfort from my family.  Sitting in silence with God does the same thing, He gives us this comfort that He is there and shows me love just by spending time with Him.  Sit in silence with God starting today and see how your life changes.