rhythm, II

'I’ve been wondering why silence bothers us so much. I think that when things go quiet, we find ourselves in the quiet. We see more clearly our own spiritual reflection and sometimes it’s hard to look at. And so, if we can fill our lives with enough noise, we won’t have to look at it! For instance, if you’ve ever tried to get quiet, and meditate, and slow down your life, whatever you really are bubbles to the surface. If you don’t have any patience and you try to slow down you’ll think “How long have I been here, 45 minutes?” No, 7 seconds. It feels like forever. If you’re angry or have a lust problem, it won’t be long until that surfaces.

Jesus gets quiet in Luke chapter 4, and within two verses, who shows up? Who? Satan, the devil. Jesus gets quiet to prepare, to prepare His heart, to prepare His mind, to hear from God. He slows it down, gets silent, and within two verses – here comes temptation, here comes distraction, here comes religious tom-foolery. Do you get it? It’s not a naked woman running through the woods that tempts Jesus. The devil is actually using Scripture on Him. “Oh sure, if you’re the Son of God you’ll be lacking in nothing. Eat. God would want you to eat, you’re his own son. God loves you Jesus. Eat.” Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” The Satan says, “Look at all the kingdoms of the earth. They can all be yours. You know they can all be yours. Scriptures say that all the kingdoms of the earth can be yours. For now they’re mine, but I’ll give them to you.”

And it’s in the silence that we must confront our demons.

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I’ll end with this. Jesus says “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). “Yoke” is a weird word – we don’t use it a lot. It has to do with plowing fields. But Jesus here is not talking about plowing fields. The term is used to refer to a Rabbi’s teachings. So, Jesus is saying “My yoke, my teachings, the way I’m asking you to live, is easy. And the burden is light.” So let me ask some questions and then pray. I wonder if this thing we’ve been caught up in isn’t the way of Jesus at all. I wonder if this kind of mathematic, scientific approach to spirituality isn’t the

way of Jesus at all. I think if we were honest a lot of us has spent some time in church and have not found our hearts and souls relieved of the weight that seems to crush it. I wonder what would happen if we quit running, quieted the soul, faced the demons, and started on the journey to wholeness. I wonder how much easier it would be to pray, how much weight would come out of the Word, how our lives might be changed. Does your life and schedule reflect a person who wants to hear from God?'

-- matt chandler, rhythm pt. 2