Joy, Peace, and Silence

“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” 1 Kings 18:21

“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11:18

 I’ll admit that my head is a bit foggy, my legs are pedal-bruised and muscle-sore, and my fingers are still a bit stiff and numb, but this past week created so many memories I wanted to share a few with you. Joining over 100 other bikers, my family and I pedaled and camped across western New York – all the way to Niagara Falls. Although I knew this trip would stretch me both physically and spiritually, I was surprised at the joy and peace it also brought.

There was a renewed joy in my marriage. The first night I dragged my tired legs and body to the tent and fell into my sleeping bag. Coming to the tent, Tim nicely asked if he could walk me to the bathroom. After taking stock of my body, I decided that my tired muscles were more important than my bladder, and so I turned down his kind offer. Wouldn’t you know it, my eyes popped open about an hour later. The conversation went something like this:

Tami( whispering very quietly): Are you sleeping?

Tim (dragging himself up from his slumber): hm?

Tami (abashed): I have to go to the bathroom.

Pause as they both listen to the rain falling outside, knowing that it is quite a hike to get to the nearest flush toilet

Tim: Would you like me to walk you there?

Tami: Would you mind?

Tim: No, of course not.

Would he mind??? What kind of a question is that? I fell in love with him all over again as we got our rain jackets on and headed up the trail to the bathroom. The next day, he again came to my rescue as he put his hand on my back and actually pushed me up a huge hill (all this while he is also riding a tandem with our other son – so technically he got all 4 of us up that hill!). This man is definitely a keeper!

There was peace with our family. All of the kids did GREAT on the trip. They learned flexibility as we ate the served food, biked in extreme heat and humidity, and woke up as the rooster crowed. It was a time of working together and encouraging each other. All five of us were stretched, and I was so proud of how my children responded.

I gained renewed peace and joy with God. Because this trip is intended for teens, the campfires at night, including singing, skits, and a designated speaker, went pretty late. Therefore, I often would take our boys to bed before the fire was over. It was during those nights of laying in our tent, reading my Bible, that I thought about the peace and joy of the Christian life. One night I read both of the verses listed above. Although from two completely different parts of the Bible, there was a common theme that struck me: silence.

In the first account, Elijah confronted his contemporary Israelites and challenged their allegiance to God. “Who are you going to worship?” questioned Elijah. What was their response? Silence. They didn’t have an answer. They were “limping along,” and they were not willing to commit to God. Their silence spoke volumes about their allegiance

The second silence is vastly different. Here in Acts, Peter described to the church leaders his experience in watching God work in the lives of Gentiles. What is the leaders’ response? Silence. They were stunned-to-silence at God’s amazing love for all of humanity.

We all celebrate the “noise” of Christianity: singing, praying, talking, reading. But a tell-tale sign of our spirituality is in our silence. When we are alone and silent before God, does that silence stem from a lack of fervor for him? Or does it come from an amazement of who he is and what he has done.

As I, along with over 100 other bikers, gazed at the majesty and beauty of Niagara Falls, many of us fell into silence. And then, spontaneously, someone started singing. Slowly we all joined in, “Our God is an Awesome God. He reigns from Heaven above. With wisdom, power and love, Our God is an Awesome God!”