Resurrection Strength

Lamentations 3:25-26 The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Today, our text adds to resurrection waiting as to how we should wait; quietly. What is important is to realise that our God waits with us. In the Old Testament we have the verse that says, “Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.” Zephaniah 3:17

The sound of silence can be troubling and unnerving. But the sound of silence is also necessary for our faith and confidence in Christ to grow and help us truly live for the Lord despite our circumstances.

Author Kathleen Norris used to play a game with primary-school children in which she would make a deal with them. “First you get to make noise,” she would bargain, “and then you’ll make silence.”

The time of noise was always predictable chaotic—shouting, pounding and stomping like a football team exploding out of a locker room. But the period of silence that followed was unexpectedly passionate and creative. When the children were asked to write about it, reflects Norris, “their images often had a depth and maturity that was unlike anything they wrote.”

One boy discovered that “Silence is a tree spreading its branches to the sun.”

One 9 year-old’s poem turned into a prayer, “Silence is spiders spinning their webs; it’s like a silkworm making its silk. Lord, help me to know when to be silent.”

And a little girl offered a gem of spiritual wisdom that Norris finds herself returning to when her life becomes too noisy and distracting: “Silence reminds me to take my soul with me wherever I go.”

Prayer

Whispering God, who longs for us to hear your voice, and waits in the sheer silence for us to recognise your presence, meet me in this quiet moment. Silent my loud, tumultuous thoughts, and grant my brain rest. Help me let go of my distractions, and my desire to be distracted, to simply sit here with you. And, as the silence unsettles my spirit, let the waves of your peace and presence wash over me. Amen.