Waiting, Patience, and Silence
Personally, these are three of my least favorite words. However I have seen in my life, (especially recently), that they are some of God’s favorite words!
I don’t often do word studies, but this time I felt the prompting to do so. I encourage you to read through each definition slowly, and see what stands out to you:
Patience:
- (noun) as in capacity, willingness to endure
- … as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
- an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness /annoyance when confronted with delay
- quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence
Wait:
- to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens …
- (of things) to be available or in readiness
Silent:
- making no sound; quiet; still:
Silence:
- (noun) absence of any sound or noise; stillness.
- (verb) to put (doubts, fears, etc.) to rest; quiet.
(summarized from dictionary.com)
These definitions opened my eyes to see where my heart posture was- and where it should be instead. Lately, my heart posture has been one of striving and surviving, not patience and silence. When I looked at these three words closer, these are the specific things that stood out to me:
- I live in patience by my willingness to endure and face challenges without irritation.
- I wait well by being available for God- open to His voice, open to His direction, open to receive His love.
- I hold silence when I am taking a pause from moving, both in body and spirit.
I am sure that most of you reading this can resonate with the struggle to find rest and silence. But what do we do? How do we stop running and rushing? It seems that the rush is an inevitable way our world works. How can we live in a spirit of silence even when there is noise still happening around us?
Before we go into practical things, let’s look at the word patience again. When I look up patience in an online dictionary, one of the antonyms listed is indolence. To be indolent is defined as “having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful”. Interesting. You’re telling me that impatience is actually a form of laziness?? Crazy. My first reaction is to think, “But I am working so hard! I don’t have time to slow down, don’t have time to pause. How am I being lazy?”
But patience is deeper than simply not moving. Waiting patiently, without worrying, is not easy. It takes focused effort to keep my mind from dwelling on anxiety. Patience doesn’t just happen. Matthew 26:41 admonishes us: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” In this passage, Jesus is talking to his disciples, who weren’t able to stay awake to pray with him in the garden, before he was crucified. There was intense spiritual battle happening in that place, and they didn’t see it.
Although waiting doesn’t always feel like battle, I think there is certainly something intense happening spiritually when we are silent, when we push against anxiety and the temptation to strive. And let’s be honest, striving is a temptation. We have to fight against the indolence, the laziness of our flesh so that we can lean into a state of true spiritual rest.
But we know there is hope, because God doesn’t leave us alone in our waiting. He has some specific encouragements to us on waiting in His Word:
Psalm 27:4: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Isaiah 40:31: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 69:13: “But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.”
I want to encourage you in the waiting, not because I have it figured out, but because I struggle with it too. I know it’s hard. Yet it is in the seasons of waiting that I have seen how God has shown up in the most beautiful ways. It is when I have had a silent and patient spirit that God has been able to touch me deepest with His love, because in my silence I was ready to receive it. It is in silent moments, moments where I put the effort in to silence the “rush”, that I am able to hear Him speak. And friends, He does speak! He speaks- but we have to be silent to hear it.
We are all different people in different seasons. You will have some different spiritual and emotional needs than I may right now. Regardless, I know you need rest and silence just as I do. I have recently decided to start some simple habits of pausing, and to try and do it every day. Even just a few minutes (5 or less!) in my day makes a world of difference. It won’t take away all of your anxiety, but it may help remind you (as it’s reminded me) that God speaks to us in the silence.