Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Quiet

Quiet Night by vladstudio

In returning and rest I shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be my strength
(based on Isaiah 30:15).

Quiet
a. (Adjective) Making little or no noise.
b. (Noun) Absence of noise or bustle; silence; calm.
c.(Verb) Make or become silent, calm, or still.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the word quiet. Maybe it’s because I often get myself in trouble by speaking without thinking. God has been reminding me that I would please Him more (and sin less) if I spoke less hastily and kept quiet instead. (Proverbs 10:19)

Perhaps the word quiet has been on my mind so much because silence is such a rarity. Everywhere I go there is sound—droning on the TV, blaring in the restaurant, ringing and dinging from my cell phone, thunking and swishing from the washer, etc, etc. I am sure I could have a better conversation with God if, like Jesus did, I would just remove myself from the noise and bustle around me. (Mark 1:35)

And I definitely understand why God is nudging me to indulge in more quiet time. I could connect with God more frequently if I would just become still for a bit (Psalm 46:10) instead of constantly feeling the need to be busy, to be moving, to be getting “stuff” done. Even when I am sitting, my fingers are flying over my computer keyboard and my thoughts are jumping from one idea to the next as I virtually hop from my web browser to my email to Microsoft Word. How can God possibly get my attention when I am so engrossed in surfing the information highway?

How about you? Does quiet seem like a pipe dream to you? Do you struggle to find a little stillness and silence? The Bible says it is worth the extra effort and reaps the rewards of a better relationship with God and one another.

Many blessings, my bloggy friends!
Pam

 ©2012 Pamela D. Williams