Remembering to Be Quiet

Numbers 1:1: “Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt.”

The book of Numbers traces the Hebrews as they journeyed through the desert (or wilderness) on their way to the Promised Land. This word wilderness is used 48 times in this book. And while for the Hebrews it was an actual desert, it is also a figurative place that anyone who has walked with the Lord for very long is acquainted with. God often uses desert experiences and wilderness journeys in our lives to speak to us.

The desert often means seclusion, quiet, and a chance to reflect on the deeper meaning of things. Jesus spent 40 days in solitude, fasting and praying in the wilderness. Those dry times in our lives are intended by the Lord to make us become still and to listen for His voice. Psalm 46:10 in the New Living Bible says, “Be silent, and know that I am God!” Usually it is only when we remember to be quiet before Him, that we are able to hear His voice. Early in the morning, before the house wakes with vibrant life, is when we need to sit quietly before Him and wait for Him to remind us that He is God.

There is an old story about a grandfather who lost his gold railroad watch and chain in the sawdust of an ice-storage house. Before refrigeration, it was common in the winter to cut ice from a nearby frozen lake and then store the large ice blocks under sawdust, which insulated them and kept them frozen so they could be used in the summer. After spending all day loading ice blocks into a storehouse with his son and grandsons, the grandfather reached into his pocket to check the time, only to discover that sometime during the day he had lost his watch somewhere in the sawdust. The grandfather told his grandsons he would give twenty dollars to the one who found his watch. They searched for almost an hour, looking for the old watch without any success. Discouraged, they left the storehouse one by one, all except for the youngest grandson. He stayed inside, closing the door behind the others. Three minutes later he walked out holding the watch with a big smile on his face. His grandfather asked him how he had found it. The little boy said he had lain down on his back in the sawdust, and then without moving, held his breath, listening. He could hear the sound of the mechanism in the watch, ticking, just a few feet from his head.

Again the Lord says to us “Be silent, and know that I am God.” Get alone, ask for Him to speak, and then silently wait in expectancy for His voice.

“LORD, help us to hear Your voice today.”