Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Has the electricity ever gone off in your home when you were watching television, working on the computer, listening to the radio or using some other device of noise connected to electricity, and not a battery?  All the lights went off and you found yourself sitting in darkness and quietness.  Panic might have set in briefly until you could find a flashlight or candle.  But what about the quietness and silence that forced you to just be still, wait, think and maybe pray?  After a few minutes, you may have realized that you had forgotten the beauty and peace of silence.  In our day, we must battle for times of quietness.  We often do not even realize its importance to our mental and spiritual health.  The National Center for Biotechnology Information reported a recent study that found two minutes of silence is more relaxing than listening to even easy listening music.  Ear buds today are connected to all types of noise making electronic devices and it seems that athletes cannot perform unless they prepare with them in their ears.  I see people stepping off the curbs on busy streets and into oncoming traffic.  Some have even lost their lives.

I love to listen to the radio when I drive and travel alone.  A few years ago, I gave thought to my prayer life when I had to travel a lot due to aging and ill parents who lived three to four hours away.  I did something that made a difference.  I began to turn off the radio and just pray and meditate and ask God to lead me and to help me through some tough times.  It made a difference in my spiritual life and I still remember some of the answered prayers.  But, I cannot remember a single thing that I missed from my noise machine.  David wrote beautiful words in Psalm 23:2 “He leads me beside quiet (still) water.”  I can probably relate to these words more than many of you.  When I was a boy growing up on a farm, we irrigated our crops at night.  I often had a night shift under the bright and clear, star-filled Texas skies with the only sound being the quiet water flowing.  I could peacefully look to the heavens and my focus turned to God as I looked to see his creation of the moon and stars.  I am convinced that this time of quietness in my life built a stronger relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth.  As a leader, you should control the noise in your home, turn off the television, shut down the cell phones and iPads and communicate with each other.  This is how we build relationships that last.