Can You Hear the Quiet?

Have you ever noticed how noisy the world is?

I guess I take it for granted. Someone is usually calling, "Mommmmmyyyyy!" The television is on, the phone rings, the washer and dryer are going. Little feet pound through the house followed by shouts and giggles. I can't hear the quiet.

Tonight I can. Everyone else is in bed. It's just the cat and me, sitting in the living room. The house is quiet.

I find I'm not as comfortable in the quiet as I once was. I seem to need the distraction of noise, the business of life in fast-forward. That's a sad thing. You see, it's in the quiet that you hear God.

I find in the quiet that my thoughts are not. They squirrel around madly, trying vainly to latch on to something, anything. Why can they not be quiet? How can the still, small voice be heard through all the madness?

I find in the quiet I cannot be still. Some part of me must move, shift. Why can I not be still? How can I wait on God to speak, to teach, to minister, if I cannot be still?

Lord, help me to hear the quiet every day.