Embracing Stillness in a Noisy World

March 2024 Devotional

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. ​​​​​- Mark 6:30-31

As a surprise to pretty much nobody, I’m a bit of a loud person. Not just in my speaking volume, though I’ve been “shushed” in my share of environments, but in the amount of noise I create around me. My roommate often nudges me to put my earbuds on as I start chopping carrots for my dinner because my phone is blaring whatever silly little reality show I have on in the background. My car fills with a playlist or an audiobook as soon as I start it, even to take a short drive. Silence, frankly, can be uncomfortable for me.

Sure, there are a million reasons for this - my ADHD diagnosis being a very relevant factor, as is the ongoing dopamine addiction from smartphone use that’s prevalent in our society. If I’m honest, though… some of my discomfort with silence is due to a lingering lie in my heart… the lie that I am alone.

Christ’s offer to the apostles in Mark 6 makes all too much sense if you’ve read much of His life. Throughout the gospels, Jesus is seen retreating into the wilderness, avoiding a crowd, and walking away from the very people we’d think he’d want to garner attention from. “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest,” he says to his disciples, offering the very rest he has found in silence.

As we entered Lent recently, I attended a church service where the pastor encouraged the congregation to engage Lent as a season to “make room” by the adding or removing of something for an encounter with God. I found myself face to face with the reality that often my impulse is to add to my life - to add noise, to add busyness, to add tasks and work and entertainment.

In that sermon, I found myself confronted by Jesus with the invitation to go with him “by [myself] to a quiet place and get some rest.” In doing so, I face the lie that I am alone - the lie that keeps me anxiously working, anxious planning, and anxiously pressing play. In being alone, in being still, to experience being with Jesus. 

 As Easter approaches, I’m making a little more room for stillness and silence. I’m keeping my earbuds in their case and my phone in a drawer for a few moments a day to let my heart, in silence, be with Jesus.

I hope in the weeks to come you can carve out some silence in your life to be with Jesus. In Him, we “get some rest.”

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