Being Quiet

So anybody that has known me a while is probably already laughing just reading the title of this blog.  And I can't really blame them...quietness has never really been one of my strongest attributes, nor is it a word most people would use to describe me. 

I like to talk.  I'm good at it.  Saying things out loud is one way that I think and process information really well.  Unfortunately, that isn't always a good thing, especially if you end up talking to the wrong person (been there, done that).  Or if you're like me, you could be especially good at opening your mouth and inserting a whole darn shoe store (not a little Payless either, more like a big old DSW).

But I've learned something this year.  It came through some really hard things, and it's something that I'm sure God will be working out in my life for some time to come.  But it's something I've come to see more often than not lately is true not just in general, but for my life.

Isaiah 30:15 says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

I have come to find that this verse in my life is completely true.  God's promises for my life have never once let me down, and if there's one thing I have learned over the past year, I can trust Him completely in all things. 

But here's the thing...I may find good, Godly advice in talking things through with a trusted, wise, Spirit-led friend or mentor.  I have a couple and I am eternally grateful for them, because they have walked with me through some really difficult things the last several months, and they have both in word and example taught me this one thing:  to be quiet. 

To be quiet before the Lord.  To come before HIM and let it all out.  Even if it's messy, hard, and through tears or jagged sobs.  Even when it hurts so much that I can't find the words to really say what's on my heart.  But then to be quiet.  Because if I do all the talking, I will never hear the response.  I will miss when God whispers Scripture in my ear, like "I have loved you with an everlasting love", or "Come to me, and I will give you rest", or "I hold all things together". 

It's in dwelling in His presence in quietness and stillness, after all is said and done, that I find my rest and my true healing. 

I learned that again this week.  I had misjudged a situation solely because I was so busy talking it through on my own that I missed out on what God was trying to show me.  And it's not that I didn't hear Him speaking at all...on the contrary, I knew He was deep down, but I was so busy trying to figure it out and analyze it for myself that I cost myself a big measure of peace, and ultimately could have really hurt someone I care for deeply. 
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In this world, we will always have trouble.  Sometimes that is discouraging to think about, and sometimes you just want to roll your eyes and be like, "Oh, come ON, really???".  But those are the moments to draw near.  To see for yourself that His Word is true, and that there is a strength and a peace that comes in quietness.

I find my shelter in Your wings, You are my breath, the song I sing.  You are my rock, my everything, and I find my healing in Your arms.