I was thinking about where I experience God, and I realised it is in the quiet places that I find Him and experience His presence the most. It's in this place – my secret place with Him that I don't necessarily have to have all my why questions answered or know what is coming next, but it is here that I find comfort for my soul when it is weary, needs encouragement or wants to share a win with Him.
For many years I've been going to a place in my heart, spirit and mind which engages me with heaven. It's a place beside quiet waters, under a weeping willow with the sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing. It's here I sit with Jesus, and it's here that I find Him always inviting me to know Him more.
I think David, who wrote Psalm 23, had a quiet place as I have – it's why he was able to write, "He leads me beside quiet waters and makes me lie down in green pastures." It's here that David also had his soul restored.
I've learned its wisdom to learn to have a quiet place where we can stop, breathe and lean into Jesus. We can do this multiple times a day by tuning our hearts and spirit's towards Him even amid the busyness and activity of the day.
Albert Einstein, a man with a brilliant mind, said, "the monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind."
We live in a world that explodes with noise, but amid this noise, there is value
in the quiet so that God can restore your soul, for He is the one that calls us to the quiet place so that He can bring rest and peace to our busy minds and hearts.
Psalm 23 encourages and reminds us that:
"The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide and shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
He refreshes and restores my soul (my life);
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake. (Psalm 23:1-2 Amplified version)
Think about the past 24 hours of your life. What external and internal noise in your life keeps you from hearing God's voice and finding quiet in Him?
Try this challenge – for one week. Spend five minutes each day sitting with Jesus in quiet.
Don't read, petition or recite off your list of thoughts and requests to him. Just sit and absorb the quiet and the time with Him. What might He say when we stop long enough in the quiet to listen?
Let Him restore your soul and bring you strength. For "In quietness and confident trust is your strength." (Isaiah 30:15)
Prayer: Lord, please help me to find you in the quiet. Take the time to still my heart and mind each day and sit with you. In Jesus Name. Amen.