A Time in Solitude
Microsoft is responsible for having a room that has been deemed "the quietest place on earth." Microsoft built an anechoic chamber in Minnesota that has been described as a place where "the quieter the room, the more things you hear. You'll hear your heart beating sometimes, you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound." Perhaps at some point, you have wanted to eliminate all the noise in your life and sit in peace.
I believe God speaks to us the loudest in the moments when we are most quiet. When we eliminate the background noise, we can hear God. When we stop the screaming voices of negativity, stress, and anxiety and become comforted by God's overwhelming love, then we can hear what God is trying to say.
You have most likely heard devotionals, sermons, and Bible studies discuss Saul's conversion in Acts 9. You have probably heard how God spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus, changing his life from persecuting Christians to explaining to others how they can follow Jesus. But have you caught what Acts 9:9 says? Luke, the author of Acts, writes about Saul's conversion and says in Acts 9:9, "For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything."
After Saul encountered Jesus, who described Himself to Saul as, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:9), he spent three days blind and alone. He could not see what was around him, and any noise Saul heard probably caused him to wonder what was going on. In solitude, Saul experienced a radical change.
What noises are you hearing right now? I am not talking about the sound of your TV in the background as you read this devotional or the phone constantly ringing. Instead, I am talking about the noise that is distracting you from experiencing what God has for you. Distracting noise can be telling lies, gossiping, or living in bitterness.
We do not know precisely what occurred in the three days Saul was alone, blind, and praying. But it makes us ask, "What will God reveal to us in a time of solitude?" A low point in Paul's life turned into a time for him to eliminate distracting noise and pray to God. Sometimes, low points can be God's way of showing us that we must take time to eradicate noise and be with Him.
Sources
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/earths-quietest-room-you-can-hear-yourself-blink-180948160/#:~:text=The%20quietest%20place%20on%20Earth,sound%20of%20their%20own%20bodies.