(Because it is as much needed now as it was then...repost from January 2013.)
I'm sitting in a (finally) quiet house, but my mind feels noisy.
What noisy input is always available to us today: The internet is noisy, opinions are noisy, the news is noisy, expectations are noisy...ideals are noisy. There is so much that seems so wrong with the nations, so unsettling about the future, so burdensome about the Body of Christ, so weighty in the details of daily life...so noisy amidst our sin-wrecked world. Some of us are deafened in the chaos of worry, of fear, of anger, of unforgiveness, and sometimes in the noise of self-condemnation.
It's so noisy that we are tempted to despair. We are tempted to think too little on the work of Christ and too much on our own abilities to solve life's problems or failure to overcome them.
But this is what we hear when we listen to the only voice that matters and look to the Word of God in keeping a quiet heart and life:
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." -Isaiah 26:3
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" -Psalm 37:7
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” -Psalm 46:10
"'For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.'" -Isaiah 30:15
"The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin." -Proverbs 10:8
"And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." -1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12
"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." -1 Peter 3:3-4
Friends, we can escape the noise and chaos, and rest in the calm and quiet of His shelter this day because Christ IS ALL. Because He is sovereign. Because He finishes the work He begins. Because His shed blood paid the price for the biggest problem or crisis we could ever truly face. His love crushes the weight of fear, anxiety, guilt, or confusion, and lifts us up in the easy yoke of His grace and mercy.
How quiet and at rest is His refuge, the strong tower of the Lord. Run to it, friend, and know the quiet of heart that surpasses any worry, turmoil, strife, or chaos...even that which may be in your own home or heart today. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. In the finished work of Christ...there is stillness. Praying for us to know stillness and quiet of heart today.
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Because of grace,
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