The Gift of Quietness

There is a special strength that is born in solitude . . . Strength is not found in busyness and noise but in quietness. For a lake to reflect the heavens on its surface, it must be calm . . . The one thing that we need today more than anything else is to spend time alone with our Lord, sitting at His feet in the privacy of His blessed presence. 

--Streams in the Desert

The devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements:noise, hurry, crowds. He will not allow quietness.

--Elisabeth Elliot

I was given a gift this year . . . 

The gift of quietness. 

Moving away from my family and friends in obedience to a call that the Lord has placed upon my heart many years ago, my husband and I took our little foursome into a small country town many miles away from my beloved close-knit family and my beloved New England with all its familiar feelings and memories and places. 

To come here. Where it is quiet. 

Sometimes startlingly so. Quiet and still, a non-bustling place with very uncrowded streets and fewer stores and more stillness. 

I took it as a gift. It did not seem like one at first. 

And we don't realize how much the "hurry" of life has gotten into us until the Lord puts us in a quiet place--maybe through an illness, maybe a humbling trial, maybe a relocation. He puts us in a quiet place. 

We don't realize how much we love to be "busy." 

How much I love to be busy.

And there are so many ways that we can be--busy with raising our kids, busy with activities, busy with social media, busy with friends, busy in our thoughts, and even busy serving, as Martha was. 

There is nothing wrong with being busy--in and of itself. 

It is good to connect with family and friends. It is good to be active in love, serving. It is good to be "busy" in the business of raising our children. 

But sometimes the "busyness" takes over the quiet stillness that ought to be ever-present in our lives and in our hearts--that quiet stillness that enables us to listen to the Holy Spirit moment by moment--as we talk, as we raise our kids, as we interact with the lost, as we serve. 

That quiet stillness that keeps us at the feet of Jesus, listening. 

I was blessed to read a blog post by a writer that I really enjoy reading--

Heather Clamp at Encouraged at Home wrote a post that made me ponder the gift of quietness. She wrote about how we as believers have become strangely disconnected in the culture in which we live and how important it is to be truly connected with those around us--reaching out with the love of Christ and living lives that are purposeful and sincere. 

It encouraged me. 

And reminded me of this place where the Lord has put me--this quiet place. 

Reminded me that it is a gift. 

I am away from "home," but at the same time "at home" with Him who is our Home. 

The Lord has given me this time of stillness, I believe, to think, to read, to listen, to pray--

To humble myself at the feet of Jesus and to seek His will for the ministry that the Lord has placed upon my and my husband's heart. 

To shepherd my two little children in a very quiet way, to walk and talk with them and to pray with them and to love them. 

His grace alone has put me here, in this place--and as He promised, His presence has gone before me. 

A quiet place. 

Where He is. 

Photo Attributions:

• Román__PG via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
•  paul bica via Foter.com / CC BY
• blmiers2 via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

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