Isaiah 30: 15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and ye would not.
I Thess. 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you.
I Tim. 2:1-2 I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
A couple of things come to mind today, both having to do with quiet.
Did you ever notice how hard it is to find quiet? Every store, even the elevators have piped in noise. Runners, walkers, drivers all live dangerously, shutting out the warning noises of nearby traffic, for the sake of noise piped straight in to their brain via ear buds. Homes and offices hum with the buzz and burr of a dozen pieces of technology, and it grows harder and harder to even find a place of piece outside.
But God calls us to be quiet. He meets us in the quiet; we can hear Him in the quiet. We can hear ourselves and the Spirit within in the quiet, so it should be no surprise that the evil one makes noise ubiquitous, uses even "good" music to keep us from the best - the voice of God.
Quiet seems to make people so uncomfortable that they immediately find some way to fill up the space, rather than listen...for anything. But it is in the quiet that the Holy Spirit works, that He can bring back to us truths that undergird our faith, that strengthen us for the challenges of the day, that bring joy in the place the evil one would fill with stress and anxiety and pain.
The second thing I notice as I look at this theme of quiet is its relationship to prayer - for all men. God, through Paul, calls us to prayer - to engage in conversation with God in behalf of others, for ALL men and in particular leaders, those in authority over us. The outcome of that ministry in prayer is personal peace and quiet and godliness. Instead, we fill up the space with noise and whine and complain and undermine our leadership.
Scarcely a day goes by that I do not hear Christians say hurtful or hateful things about our president....and I think that if it grieves me, how much more it must grieve our Lord.
So He tells us the importance of quiet, the value of quiet and how to obtain a quiet and peaceable life, and we ignore His counsel.
Goes back to a few posts back - Psalm 46...Be Still and know that I am God. Great reminders.
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