People would often ask Mozart how he created such emotion in his music. They wanted to know how it could feel light as air one moment and thunderous the next. He didn’t highlight the crescendos or the melodies. Instead he would say something that surprised people. He said, “The music is not in the notes, but in the space between.” In music, those silences are called rests. They are not empty space. They are intentionally in there to create tension, shape emotion, and give the next note meaning. The pauses are not the absence of music. They are what makes the music, music. Without them, music simply collapses into noise. In the Bible, these rests and pauses are noted with the word, “Selah.”
In John 8, a woman was caught in adultery. They brought her to Jesus creating a scene with lots of noise. They pointed to the Law of Moses saying she must be stoned and wanted to know what He had to say. Instead of immediately responding, He bent down, wrote in the dirt in silence, then said, “Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone.” He then paused and wrote in the dirt again. Verse 9 says, “They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court” (AMP). In that moment, silence quieted the noise of accusation, a woman found grace and a life was restored. In that pause Truth could be heard.
If you’re in a season of noise, accusation or busyness, you need a selah moment that Jesus offers. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (NLT). God wants to use this rest He gives to create music in your life that highlights the crescendos and melodies He is producing through you. This rest He gives is not empty space. It gives everything else in your life meaning. It silences the accuser of the believers. It helps us find grace when we need it most. It slows us down so that we can be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). There is power in pausing. There is grace in handing your burden to the Lord. There is restoration waiting in the silence of the pause for anyone willing to stop long enough to receive it.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 