Silence

Why is it that we as a society cannot stand silence? Our lives are filled with the endless empty flood of noise, from stereos, to planes, to meaningless conversations; why can't we be silent?
Why is it that we as a society cannot be still? We move from sun up to sun down having everything to do and nothing to accomplish. We endlessly exhaust ourselves with work and play to the point that we can neither feel satisfied at work, or enjoy play. Why can't we be still?
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Ps 46:10
“But the Lord is in his Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him.” Hab 2:20
I believe that why we cannot be still, and why we cannot be silent, is because satan is deceiving us. He does not tell us lies, instead he tells us half truths. “You should give to the poor”, but not at the cost of giving praise to God for our gifts. “You should pray for justice”, but not at the expense of forgetting God's mercy. “If your a Christian you should be doing good works”, but not without first dwelling in God. Satan challenges us to do good things, but he does so in order that we may neglect the better things. As Jesus says, “For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”(Mat 26:11). Satan delights in twisting Christians into pretzels of always giving to the poor, but never receiving from God. How can we give if we do not first have? How can we serve unless we first let Christ serve us?
God desires us to dwell in him through his Word. So often we are busy with “The Lord's Work” that we forget the Lord. Let us be still and silent, dwelling in and on the Word of God daily, not prone to menial conversations, and the endless drone of media nothingness. Let us not be caught up in ceaseless work, and play, but let us take time to be still and silent, praying to God with praise and thanksgiving, resting in his Word. Christians are to be in the world, and not of the world, and this means that we are not to get caught up in the whims of the world, including those that sound good: justice, peace, and saving the environment. Let us first have God, dwelling in the Word, and resting in the care of the Holy Spirit, and then we can seek to love and serve the world. To God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be all the glory now and forevermore. Amen