Gò0dNews for Men
Unpack
W
by Nelson Haynes
hat happens when you scramble the word
tendency to focus on the load instead of appreciating the
silent? You get listen. Interesting. How can
grandeur of creation. Once the backpack comes off, I’m able
anyone listen without first being silent?
to see things more clearly.
Whenever I hiked trails in the Pisgah National
What makes the backpacks we carry in life so
Forest of North Carolina, or in the Smoky Mountains of
emotionally draining? Inside a backpack are different
Tennessee, nature had a way of commanding an eerie kind
compartments. Yours might include a side pocket of anxiety,
of quietness. Reverence.
while others have zippered sections called habitual sins.
From “All That is Made,” authors Geoff Gentry and
Maybe you keep the doubts section snapped shut. There’s
Bryan Ye-Chung contribute, “It is hard to live on the Earth
the suffering and trials pouch that won’t stay closed because
in the 21st century and not be painfully aware that life is
a new problem keeps sticking out. The lower compartment
full of noise. We bounce from notifications, to social media
in your backpack carries the weight of everything else.
timelines, to advertisements, to endless entertainment
Yours may have holes in it. In that section, you might have
options. Most of us love it. Conversation is constant. We
stretched the contents of bitterness to the max, and it leaks
live distracted lives, turning our days into content that we
out into every part of your life. Maybe it’s time to drop your
fire into the world at an alarming rate. This hurried and
backpack. Unpack it.
marginless living is undergirded by the anxiety of always being ‘on.’”
Gentry and Ye-Chung take us a step further: “In silence, our soul is quieted. Our burdens—the things we carry, can
Yeah, if we don’t hit the “off” switch, we’ll shut down. A great place to get away from the noise of life is the great outdoors. I love hiking, but a drawback to carrying a heavy backpack is the
rise to the surface. Our pain and suffering can be named. Our chaos can be calmed. Our lives can settle in the presence of God’s Spirit. Silence is for calming, for emptying out, for letting go. In silence, we allow Jesus to do his work.” Part of His work is speaking to us, but we need to listen to what Elijah referred to as God’s still, small voice. We need to hear from Him because the journey of life is lonely at times. Your journey is solitary because it is unique to you. You may hear God’s still, small voice as you read a passage of Scripture. You may hear it as you take a walk around your neighborhood. You may hear it when you get alone to pray. Peter must have unpacked his load a time or two. May his words encourage you: “Give all your worries and cares
About The Author
to God, for He cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).
12 // May 2020
Nelson Haynes lives in Ringgold, Georgia, with his wife and 2 Labrador Retrievers. Both of their daughters are grown. Check out his writer’s blog at www.nelsonhaynes500words.com for more meditations. He has a Masters in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary and besides writing, his hobbies include riding his mountain bike; reading; movies; gardening ; painting and going on dates with his bride.
