We all need significant times in our lives where we experience the peacefulness of complete and total silence. Hushed moments where we can make a heartfelt exploration of our deepest questions, posed before the Almighty God of the universe; questions that are whispered in but a single solitary moment in time. God is timeless, yet He pauses, draws near to our hearts, and listens to what we are really saying, when no one else is really listening.
We all need to find a solitary place where we can stop the world, breathe our own oxygen and hear the sounds of silence. Yet mere aloneness or solitude is not an asset that truly satisfies unless we are able to connect to someone greater than ourselves.
“If one pictures life as a line on a page, one must picture God as the page on which the line is drawn.” CS Lewis
What is this Quiet Place within us? How did it get there? If there is Quiet Place within us, why can’t we easily find it? Most people are so afraid of silence and solitude that we cringe from the quiet and even panic at the mere thought of solitude. The very idea of a prolonged period of quietness can seem to suffocate our consciousness, rather than liberate our deepest self. Inner exploration as a pilgrimage in and of itself, can lead one into a maze from which there are no true answers and for some, only a disillusioned imprisonment, from which there can seem no escape.
There is a Quiet Place within every one of us
There is a God created domain, deep in the very soul of every human being. It is a place within our soul that nothing can truly fill except our creator Himself. He created us to be indwelt by His Spirit, and nothing in life can take His place there.
The reality of this truth could fill a myriad of blogs. This one cannot explore the depths of such a vast topic. My hope is that it touches a parched tongue with a drop of water so as to find the fountain from which living water can truly be found.
One of the most terrifying of incarcerations is one of solitary confinement? Why is that? Yet the Monastic zealots, the Ascetics, the Gnostics and the philosophers of history, write of such a quest with passionate fervency. Many however, have later ventured forth disillusioned, broken in spirit, mentally bankrupt, and unable to function in society at all. Their baptism into rigorous, and disciplined prolonged periods of solitude, had changed them, but the change was a metamorphosis into having lost their self completely, rather than having found their true self.
The deeper into themselves that they had searched, the more enslaved and shackled they became; captives of their own disillusionment, rather than becoming liberated and set free. There is a truth that cannot be denied: The longer one lives in the darkness, the blinder he will become.
"The world's smallest package is a man wrapped up in Himself." Charles Swindoll
"The Lord is near those who have a broken heart." Psalm 34:18
Your own Quiet Place may be enveloped by a raging storm within your life right now, or seemingly imprisoned by an addiction that now has you trapped rather than enlightened. Your profound heartache, bitterness at being hurt, or unending physical pain and suffering may numb the reality of it, but the Quiet Place is real. It is God’s private place to share life with you and you alone. Regardless of what is happening to you, taking place around you or going on within you, always remember that you are not alone in the storm.
"His way is in the whirlwind and the storm..." Nahum 1:3
As our lives are jammed tight with unending schedules, time pressures, and burdensome obligations, it may not seem like there is Quiet within, but it is there amidst the noise and the stress...it just doesn't seem accessible. In times of hardship, suffering, or loneliness, we are more conscious of the Quiet Place within, but it is encumbered and suppressed by depression, sorrow, and feelings of deep despair. We may see the dim pathway to it, shimmering across our minds eye like a mirage, but then it seems to dim and fade amidst the pain.
God’s Promise to us
Only God can become our Quiet Place. Only He can prepare within us, through His redemptive mercy and grace, a new place where He can commune with us and we can truly know Him and worship Him.
" I will give them one heart (a new heart) and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony (unnaturally hardened) heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh (sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God).” Ezekiel 11:19 Amplified. Bible
“God’s quest to be glorified, and our quest to be satisfied reach their goal in this one experience; when our delight in God overflows in praise for God , for praise is the sweetness of His own excellence in the hearts of His people. For us, praise is the summit of satisfaction that comes from living in fellowship with God.” John Piper
We discover in life that no amount of money or fame or possessions or power can satisfy the Quiet Place. Even in spite of all of the sentimental poetry, romance novels, love songs or love stories depicted in movies, no person can truly fill the Quiet Place.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” John Piper
The Quiet Place exists within us regardless of our age, gender, or nationality. It exists no matter where we were born, or whatever language we may speak. The Quiet Place exits as a human reality. It is no less a fact than the truth that the sun rises every morning. It exists within us as certain as the astrological proof that the moon courses its way across the heavens, even if it is obscured from our sight because of a raging storm.
Counsel from a Pilgrim Traveler
“Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:6 -7
Comfort from a Loving God
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (Whose power no foe can withstand).” Psalm 91:1 Amplified Bible
No matter how many mistakes you have made, or how far away from God you may feel, or how broken your heart may be within you, God desires to know you and to show you how to turn a heart of chaos and turmoil into a Quiet Place.
Take a few moments to breathe and watch this inspirational music video
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