Quiet Brings Clarity

How many times have you heard the phrase, “God gave you two ears and one mouth”? I tell it to my children constantly because I want them to learn that it is more important to hear than to speak. I need reminded of that as well. I fill my day with mundane tasks. I read my Bible and answer my Bible study questions so I can check them off my list before I rush to my next task. As a friend is sharing a very important circumstance with me, I’m too busy deciding what to say next to truly listen to her heart and allow God to guide my words. When I’m in the middle of a crisis in my own life, I quickly try to solve the problem so the pain will go away as fast as possible instead of patiently waiting on the Lord to fix it for me. Are you guilty of any of these scenarios?

How can we hear God’s will in our lives if we are constantly busy and rushing through life? When we fill our schedule to the brim and stay busy, we are making our own agenda instead of relying on God’s guidance. I am as guilty of this as anyone else. But God has within the past year given me some tools to be able to slow down and hear Him; ways to be patient as I wait for His direction.

In 2022, God was urging me to wake up 30 minutes earlier than my kids. I love my sleep. I’m that person who needs at least eight hours of sleep every night. I could never survive on six hours. I did not want to give up even 30 minutes of sleep so that I could spend time with the Lord. Days passed by and my devotionals would be about waking up early and sitting still with God. The writing classes I attended all talked about how they did their best writing in the early morning hours. My Bible studies were about people in the Bible who sacrificed their precious things to the Lord, even though it was difficult. Everywhere I went God was telling me to wake up early. Finally, after weeks of hearing this, I made the decision to wake up early. I sat everything up in my dining room so that I would not wake anyone up. I had my computer charged and ready, my devotional sitting on top of it with my reading glasses, and my Bible ready to be opened. I prepared my coffee the night before so that all I had to do was hit the start button and get my creamer out of the fridge. Everything was ready. I got up at 5:30a.m. that morning and haven’t looked back since. Surprisingly, I was not tired throughout my days, I was more patient with the kids as they got ready for school, I was having more intimate prayer time with the Lord, my writing improved and ideas poured out of my head, and my Bible studies were more in-depth. God filled a void in my life and because of the benefit I saw I started getting up 45 minutes early instead of 30.

We are selfish with our time. It is the one thing we cannot get more of. I did not have extra time in my day to spend 30 minutes with the Lord. My day was filled with tasks that I could not let go of. I was taking care of my children, writing, leading a group Bible study, helping my husband as we walked through life together, volunteering at my local hospital, and exercising at least an hour a day. My days were full, but I knew I was missing something. I was missing time to be still in front of the Lord, missing time to just sit at His feet. As we go through our daily life and seek God’s will, it is crucial that we know that He is God, and we are not. Not only is He God, but He is our Creator. He made us and we are His. He knows our every need and our every desire. It is great and useful to share our desires with Him and pour our hearts out to Him but sometimes it is more beneficial to just sit quietly with Him. That is when we will hear Him speak. He will guide us with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 46 is a beautiful song written about the war in our lives. War is inevitable, one way or another. It is a reminder that war, confusion, and uncertainty will come but we are to lean on the Lord instead of ourselves. It says, “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, through the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress…Come and see what the Lord has done…He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God is doing all this for us. He is in control, and He is sovereign. Because He has this great power all we must do is be still and have faith in Him. He doesn’t need us to fix our problems, He doesn’t even need our help; He has it all under control.

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3

“Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 34:30-31

Digging Deeper:

How is God calling you to spend time with Him?

How can you change your schedule so that you have the time to sit still before the Lord?

How has your quiet time helped your daily walk with the Lord?