Quietness

Psalm 46:10-11, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 11  The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge." (NKJV)

I dare say that each of us face the challenge in our lives to find an appropriate "quiet time" in which we can spend in prayer and meditation with God. Life has a way to keep us very busy and occupied with various responsibilities. I am certainly not inferring that these times are used for sinful or frivolous activities. Much of what we do is directly related to our family, work and even church responsibilities. 

But I also believe that for the continued progress of our "spiritual health" we need those times in which we can focus on God and what He is saying to us as individual believers. These moments of quietness have to be scheduled into our calendar. There will always be something that will invade our thoughts or grab our attention. It is up to each one of us to figure out when those moments of quietness will fit best into our hectic schedule of life. Each of us need to realize that we will always make time for what we perceive as important. Prioritizing those needs will reveal the importance of our time with God.

I read a story about a Mother of eighteen (18) children who had an unique way to let her family know that she was in her "quiet time." I will admit that this story is taken from the 1700's and that times have changed. BUT the principle of "Be still, and know that I am God.." is still relevant in our present world. Our challenges are certainly different than this lady faced but the need for God is still the same from generation to generation. 

Susanna Wesley had 18 children, and two of her sons changed history. John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist church, and Charles Wesley wrote hundreds of Christian hymns. Both of them attributed their love for God to their mom’s passionate dedication to the Lord. She prayed every day. How do you find time to withdraw and pray every day when you have 18 kids? Sometime in the afternoon, she would sit down in her rocking chair and pull her long apron up over her head. All the kids knew that if they disturbed mom when the apron was over her head, they were in for it!

It is very difficult to hear God’s voice if you’re surrounded by noise. That’s why we need to find a quiet place to spend time alone with God.