Struggling for Silence
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. –Luke 5:15-16
Every day our brains consume about 100,000 words’ worth of data. That’s about the length of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. But what’s more amazing is that our brain is actually bult to handle more—up to 74 gigabytes. Think about how much more information we are exposed to today than just 20 years ago, before the iPhone was first introduced. In a lot of ways, technological advances in how we receive and process information have been a blessing. We can now distribute the Gospel message to virtually every corner of the earth—at least, to anyone who has a smart phone.
The downsides, of course, are many. Information overload is a real thing—the medical term is cognitive overload, which is when you are exposed to more information than your brain can handle. The average screentime usage has increased in the US to just over 7 hours per day. And it just keeps rising.
The spiritual dilemma is that while we get more immersed in our little digital appendages, spending actual quiet (as in silent) time with the Father seems to get more difficult. Jesus modeled alone-time with God, and grabbed it every chance He got. Why? Because He knew that His relationship with the Father was just that—relational. Jesus knew that intimacy with His Father was proportional to the amount of time He spent with Him. Not because “God would love Him more,” but because He would hear more clearly from God, understand His will, and the means to carry it out.
Silence is a difficult thing to achieve in our warp-speed culture. When was the last time you spent just 10 waking minutes in complete silence—no phone, no friends, no kids, nothing but silence—with the Father? Even if you have a houseful of kids and non-stop noise in your home, steal away for 10 minutes to a quiet place. It might be using ear-plugs and locking yourself in the bathroom, or it may mean escaping to the wilderness for a couple of days alone—just your Bible and a notebook. If you have the desire, God will provide the means.
This “silent thing” isn’t just for monks who lived in the Egyptian desert 1700 years ago, or for Catholic saints who lived in caves while the Plague was ravaging Europe. It’s for all of us. Want to know the Father’s heart? Get someplace quiet enough to actually hear His voice.
Father, help me fight for silent time alone with You; I want to hear from You.
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https://www.blog.askwonder.com/blog/information-data-media-consumed-in-day-average