“I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.”
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted in the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
What delights you? In the quietness of your own thoughts, where no one but you can hear your answer, what delights you? It can be a tricky question, right?
I once read an article (I googled it and found out that it was from Science Magazine in 2014!) about an experiment asking people to sit in silence. The experiment was this: would you rather sit absolutely quiet in a room for 15 minutes or shock yourself and get out? The findings were remarkable! A large portion of the people would rather inflict themselves with pain rather than sit for a mere 15 minutes in silence!
As a follower of the Lord, could you sit for 15 minutes in silence and ponder on your God? Have you ever tried to pray to God for 15 minutes? It can be difficult! These types of exercises can be difficult because of how spiritually exposing and intimate they are. When we are quiet and still, God stirs in the quietness. And when God stirs, we see him for who he is (and we see ourselves for who we are). This happened to the prophet Elijah in his moment of despair and tribulation. Strong wind, an earthquake, and fire appeared before him, but God wasn’t there. God was in the sound of a low whisper (1 Kings 19:12). In the quietness, Elijah came to behold God and himself in a fuller light.
When we sit quiet and let God speak through his Word, it forces us to really look at ourselves. But even as we begin to squirm under the gaze of God Almighty himself, he smiles and extends a hand! Where we would shock ourselves every single time to get out of the experiment, God our Father takes the shock away, and he takes our squeamish outlook on being quiet before him away. He changes everything through sending his son, Jesus!
This Christmas season, take time to sit quietly in the presence of God. Take delight in God’s Word. Be still, and see God as he presents himself. Fight against the false notion of the world that you need to constantly look away from the spiritual things—that you need to constantly be “busy”—to be productive and successful. Find truth from God in the quietness of the low whisper. It’s Christmastime! God came for us! And remember, when God comes, whatever he comes to do gets done.
May our 15 minutes multiply this season and always.
Midweek blessings,
Jeremiah