Quiet and Loud!

I was thinking this morning about the last years of my wife’s earthly existence and of the various sudden emergencies that we faced along the way.  I recalled that my immediate reaction was to bring calm and peace to the situation.  Along with the physical attentiveness to her particular needs at the moment, speaking situational-specific scriptures over her and keeping myself calm and clear minded… I laugh now, when I consider all the times that I gently held her hand and softly whispered “It’s Okay! It’s Okay!”

Looking back, I think that all the “It’s Okay” comments were just as much for me as they were for Piper!  I realized early on, as I cared for her and the debilitating disease that she was dealing with, that I needed to stay calm and quiet enough on the inside, so that I could hear the voice of the Lord, in order to know the best course of action to follow when alarming symptoms presented themselves.

Psalms 23:1-3 was one important portion of scripture that I kept near to my heart and mind throughout those years.  In this very graphic painting of life that the Psalmist drew, he began by stating:

“The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.  He offers a RESTING PLACE for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an OASIS OF PEACE, the QUIET BROOK OF BLISS.  That’s where HE RESTORES AND REVIVES MY LIFE.  He opens before me pathways to God’s pleasure and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to his name.” (TPT) 

There were numerous occasions during that eight-year period when I would have to forcibly quiet and calm myself down enough, so that I could mentally picture The Lord’s RESTING PLACE, His Oasis of Peace and the Quiet Brooks of Bliss.  Once my mental and emotional state reached that place of stillness, I discovered that I could then hear what Elijah heard and described as “A Still, Small Voice” after he had been physically inundated with a fierce wind, an earthquake and fire in I Kings 19:9-18.

Through the years of my adult life, I have often times retreated to quiet places where I can get away from the distractions of life and spend time in fellowship with the Lord, in order to seek comfort, wisdom and direction.  It is also a unifying habit that Piper and I quickly developed together from our dating days onward.  We took every opportunity we could to spend time alone with each other so that we could regroup, refresh and talk to the Lord together.

I believe that this habit of seeking out and spending time in the quiet, calm and still places throughout our lives (both individually and together) is what caused me to become very familiar with the “Still, Small Voice” of the Lord when He speaks to me.

I was thinking (and talking aloud to the dog) about this on Fiver’s and my morning walk along the golf course earlier today, when I suddenly had the thought that “the more you spend quality time listening to the Lord, in the QUIET places and times of life, the easier it will be for you to decipher His voice and His directions, during the LOUD and high-pressure times that pop up along the way!”

That thought goes right along with the blog post I wrote a few weeks ago entitled, “PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE”*  Just like with any other skill that one is attempting to learn and become proficient with, hearing the “Still, Small Voice” of the Lord takes regular practice until it becomes second nature to you.

One word of caution to you though… as you seek to become familiar with the “Still, Small Voice” of the Lord… know that the words of comfort, wisdom and direction that you believe that the Lord is softly speaking to you – will ALWAYS line up with the written Word of God in your Bible… In other words, in order to develop familiarity with the “Still, Small Voice” of the Lord… you also have to develop a personal familiarity with the contents of your Bibles!  The two always flow in tandem with each other.

Do you know that I am still getting confirmations from the Lord, in the Word, for things that He told me years ago?  Some of my most common phrases lately, as I study the Word has been “WOW! Now I get it!” or “Hey!  That’s another confirmation for what you showed me way-back-when!”  Times like that warm my heart and sometimes bring tears to my eyes as I sense the Lord wanting to slap me on the shoulder and say “SEE, I TOLD YOU SO!”

So… Needless to say… I enjoy spending time fellowshipping with the Lord in the QUIET, CALM and STILL places in my life… So that… I can hear and distinguish His “Still, Small Voice” when the LOUD interruptions and emergencies in life surprise me!

HOW ABOUT YOU?

I hope that you are having a fantastic weekend!  After a week of rain and lots of thunder and lightning, we are in the midst of a picture perfect, sunny Oklahoma spring weekend!  Let me know how your times spent in the Quiet places with the Lord are going… and don’t forget to keep EXPECTING his BEST all along the way!

 

 

* http://pjberruto.blogspot.com/2023/05/practice-practice-practice.html