I have no door on my office at home.

I never have had a problem with that before because, well, I’ve only ever really worked from home when I’m there by myself.  Obviously that hasn’t been the case for the past several weeks! It’s not that my family doesn’t give me time to work… Allison has been going out of her way to help me find focused time to write a sermon each week.

Yet even while I’m locked away in my home office, I can hear everything.  I can hear the sounds of laughter and the sounds of joy – and I want to go play with them.  I can hear the sounds of frustration and the sounds of sadness – and I want to go comfort them.

And then there’s the tiny person who keeps trying to visit me.  She doesn’t understand that Daddy is working.  She thinks he’s been locked in his cage for a time out and she wants to come break him out.

Working from home is not for the faint of heart, as many of you well know!

But yesterday I did something different.  Allison and I are trying yet another new schedule whereby I am able to go into the church office for a full day.  For the past several weeks, I would run in for a few short hours to do what needed to be done on site but never stay longer than needed.  Yesterday I had a FULL day to work in the office and to catch up on some things that were piling up.  And do you know what I noticed yesterday?

Silence!

It was incredibly silent in the church office yesterday. So quiet that it almost started to bother me.  I just wasn’t used to it.  It felt uncomfortable and awkward.

Yet even as I settled into the new-found silence, I realized I needed it.  I needed time to just be still.  I need time where I could just listen.  God didn’t say anything or do anything profound… but in the silence, I felt Him and was refreshed by Him.

We all need silence.  We all need times to remove all the distractions and just be with Him.  As cute as the kids are, as enjoyable as family time is, we need to carve out silent time as well.  It’s not easy and it can be awkward but we need it.

I mean, even Jesus needed it.  How often did He go off to a mountainside to be alone and pray?  How often did He leave the crowds and even His disciples to simply sit in the silence with His Father?

We need that too!

It’s just hard to find it on a normal day.  It’s hard to find it on a COVID day.  It’s hard to find it on any day.  But we need it.  I wish I had an easy formula for you to follow to find quiet time.  For some of us, it’s relatively simple because you live alone or your kids are older and will leave you in peace for a spell.  For others, it’s hard as there’s always someone or something that needs our attention.

Regardless of how hard it is, I would encourage you today to carve out even just a few minutes to find silence.  To find time to simply be still and listen.  God might speak.  God might whisper.  God might just sit with you in the silence.