When we wish to read a good book and immerse ourselves in it, we do not go to a noisy bus station to read. Rather, we retreat to a quiet, private place to give ourselves completely to the book. When we wish to talk with someone who means much to us, we take him or her to a place where there will be no interruptions. When we study for an examination, we lock the door, turn off the radio, and give ourselves unreservedly to the subject matter. When we want to let the life of Christ make a revolutionary impact on our life, we go to the desert. Geographically it is not always possible. But we can do it spiritually by recognizing the terrible distraction of the ambitions, the standards, the music, the talk, and the noise of this world to our attempts at spiritual concentration—and then do something about it.
Silence
Oswald Chambers
Solitude with God repairs the damage done by the fret and noise, and clamour of the world.
Rick Warren
The deepest level of worship is praising God despite pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.
Katherine Walden
God never abandoned the Israelites when they were in the wilderness; He was a cloud by day, a pillar of fire at night, and dwelt amongst them in His tabernacle. The wilderness experience is never meant to separate you from His presence. You might be going through a dry season, you might FEEL like God is far away, you might think He is silent but the truth is – He is NEVER distant from those who call upon His name.
Lysa Terkeurst
You may go through seasons where God seems silent in an area of your life. Don’t let that discourage you. You are not alone. In those hard seasons, remember that your relationship with God is the most important. Keep trusting Him. Keep praying. Keep watching for Him. And remember, God’s Word is Him speaking to us in written form—always available, and never silent.
Ed Stetzer
Love is sacrificial in its actions and intents. It stands up to injustice, unrighteousness, and oppression regardless of the personal or professional costs to us. I would argue that sacrifice is the most difficult facet of winsome love. Silence is often a tempting alternative to engagement in this age, when the slightest misstep can unleash a disproportionate quality and quantity of outrage. But when we choose sacrificial love, we move from nice words to concrete actions. Sometimes, as we will see, such love requires that we pay a heavy price.
Dallas Willard
Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness. You will see that the world is not on your shoulders after all. You will find yourself, and God will find you in new ways. Silence also brings Sabbath to you. It completes solitude, for without it you cannot be alone. Far from being a mere absence, silence allows the reality of God to stand in the midst of your life. God does not ordinarily compete for our attention. In silence, we come to attend. Lastly, fasting is done that we may consciously experience the direct sustenance of God to our body and our whole person.]
Frederick Buechner
In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart. The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
Thomas Merton
The Desert Fathers believed that the wilderness had been created as supremely valuable in the eyes of God precisely because it had no value to men. The wasteland was the land that could never be wasted by men because it offered them nothing. There was nothing to attract them. There was nothing to exploit. The desert was the region in which the Chosen People had wandered for forty years, cared for by God alone. They could have reached the Promised Land in a few months if they had travelled directly to it. God’s plan was that they should learn to love Him in the wilderness and that they should always look back upon the time in the desert as the idyllic time of their life with Him alone.