Q is for Quiet

Elijah knew it.
The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ~I Kings 19:11-13

King David knew it.
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

So why can’t we accept it?

We want big, splashy miracles. We want ostentatious revelations. We want tangible proof beyond a shadow of doubt. We want….

But that’s not the way it works most of the time. Oh sure, there were times when God was soooo obviously present…remember the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night? Probably not very quiet. How about when the walls of Jericho came down. It definitely wasn’t quiet that time. And then, there’s the two earthquakes that happened in 33AD around April 3 and 5th. No quiet time going on there either.

But these major announcements are few and far between. There are many more references in Scriptures of strength through quietness.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. ~Isaiah 30:15

He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ~Mark 4:39

And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. ~Luke 4:35

And in the morning, a long time before daylight, he got up and went out to a quiet place, and there he gave himself up to prayer. ~Mark 1:35

But this is so foreign to us, isn’t it. We love loud  and splashy displays of strength. In fact, the louder, the better. And in our quest for a parade and fireworks, we sometimes can’t hear the quiet voice of God trying to guide our lives.

We often can’t see what God is doing in our lives, but God sees the whole picture and His plan for us clearly.”
~Tony Dungy, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life

All we need to do is learn how to be still long enough to listen.

 Linking up with ABC Wednesday