Quiet

Quiet

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

“WHEN I SPEND TIME WITH GOD, I have a tendency to race from topic to topic, mentally telling him all the things I have planned. I have a hard time quieting myself to wait and listen.” Kristen confessed, as if she were telling me something only she struggles with, something that everyone but her figured out long ago.

“Oh, friend.” I caught her eye as I leaned close to stage-whisper my own confession, “I’m as wriggly as a sugared-up six-year-old if you put me in a chair and tell me to be quiet and listen for God to speak. It’s hard.”

Her eyes crinkled as she chuckled, “Oh, well then. I don’t feel so alone. Gah. I wish it weren’t so difficult to turn my brain off! Every time I try to wait quietly, my brain starts thinking about a million different distracting things.”

Kristen is right. Ask me to sit quietly before God, and I become like a squirrel spying multiple shiny objects all at once. My attention ping-pongs between unrelated thoughts and ideas, with the occasional random errand coming to mind as I try desperately to wrangle my attention back to God. Honestly, my inability to sit quietly for more than a few minutes at a time makes me feel like a failure.

But, I’ve learned the trick, at least for me. If I combine a simple physical task with my prayerful quietude, I can putter and wait, my brain willing to idle along quietly and on task as my hands do something mundane. For me, this is how I hear best from God. Depending upon the season and my to-do list, going for a solo walk, gardening, driving, even taking a shower are all times in which I find myself busy but not engaged mentally, allowing my mind to quiet, ready to hear what the Holy Spirit might reveal, content in my mental stillness even as my body moves.

Lord, thank you for speaking to us when we are willing to slow our racing thoughts and quiet our voices. Show each of us how best to quiet ourselves before you—whether that be sitting still or finding simple tasks to keep our bodies busy even as we quiet our minds. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Take some time to be mentally still before God today, even if that means moving your body.