Some years ago I had a business that sold farming equipment and sometimes I spent as much as a week in the Karoo. I just loved the silence out there and my favourite stop was between Fraserburg and Sutherland.
Enjoy the silence
There I could easily spend an hour or more just enjoying the incredible silence without even one vehicle passing. I remember being there I always thought the world must have been something like that shortly after creation;
it’s almost as if you can hear the silence.
Now it seems like the rest of the world has also come to rest and became very quiet, yet you need to switch off the TV, radio, etc. to be able to hear the silence. Air pollution and much of the noise pollution have ceased. Seems like a “breath of fresh air” has come on all of us.
Reset
Maybe it is as some people say that it is as if a reset button was pressed, so that the ever increasing chase after whatever, may be re-thought and reconsidered.
All of a sudden all the sport matches that we could not afford to miss, are just gone.
Go to any sport channel and there is nothing except a lot of old ReLive shows, a new word for repeat after repeat. No arts festivals, no coffee at a coffee shop, no pizza delivery, nothing.
What remains is the TV (with the channels available to you), radio and the internet. If you now have to work from home, at least you miss the traffic and you don’t have to drive kids to and from school. Whatever you keep yourself busy with during this time, I believe the tempo is slower for all of us.
A slower day
We always had this hope that someday a slower day would come. Rob Parsons though, in his video The Heart of Success, says that we should not bluff ourselves, because a slower day is not coming.
So with the slower time now forced on us, it can perhaps teach us some lessons for the road ahead.
# Job’s friends
In the Bible we read about when Job suffered severe loss and his friends came to sympathise with him. “So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” (Job 2:11 – 13)
Whenever I read this story I always thought how it was possible that they could just sat with him for seven days doing nothing? Didn’t they have any work to do?
And now, here we sit at home for seven days already and we have another fourteen days to go. Who could have thought that this would be possible in our day and age? But perhaps this is what is needed; the whole world taking some time out.
One thing needed
Perhaps the following scriptures can help us to look with new eyes at what is really important in life.
In Luk 10:38-42 we read about how Jesus view our busy lives. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
So perhaps we need some quiet to hear God speaking again like Elijah. “… the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1Kings 19:11-13)
Conclusion
Even Solomon said that we will never finish all the work; “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” (Ecc 12:12-14)
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psa 46:10)
Unfortunately this standstill has severe economic consequences, but perhaps it might help us reconsider the true riches in life.
Maybe after this time of turmoil, you’ll be looking for a job or business that will better match your personality. If you are that person, a Career Direct Assessment will help you find the right direction. It will not only show who you are, but will also point you in the right direction.
