A Quiet Place of Holiness

 

Fear and worry tend to infiltrate the soul of every human being at one time or another. We all share the penchant for trying to control our circumstances to keep us safe. We fear the future and cling to the past. What if all the orange trees in Florida feared losing their fruit, so they clung to the oranges? We would miss a whole year of orange juice, and the fruit would just sour and rot in a few weeks. There is no reason to allow fear or worry to dictate our mood; we will only sour and decay our soul if we do.

Instead, we can still and quiet our soul by keeping a journal of the things that bother us (Psalm 131:2). This allows our soul to let off steam and rid itself of any dangerous, pent up negative emotions. The Lord tells the righteous that it will be well with us, for we shall enjoy the fruit of our labor (Isaiah 3:10). As we yield our self to faith, worship and obedience, He works His mighty works in and instead of us. We are the glove, but He is the hand.

An attraction to the world causes us to slip into debauchery of our body and soul and leads to physical sickness and mental illness. On top of this it is sin, which causes spiritual sickness too. Dabbling in the world does us no good in any way. Sin is only enjoyable for a short time. It causes us to miss the joys of serving in God’s Kingdom. It forces us to reap the consequences of our behavior for the rest of our life, as well as in eternity (Hebrews 11:25).

Even the good things in life can become the enemy of the will of God for our life. Many of us are so preoccupied with living life that we forget that we are dead, and that Christ now lives His life instead of us. We are too busy to slow down and abide in Christ, and we frustrate the plan of God for our life (Ephesians 2:8-10). God’s work is delayed by our obstruction of His will. However, in His will, we accomplish much more than we do by living life according to our will and in our own strength.

God calls us to be still and to acknowledge that He is God (Psalm 46:10). We sit in blessed silence and still our racing soul. As we wait upon the Lord, we stand against anything deterring us from seeking God. He brings peace to our soul and fills us with His joy as our strength (Isaiah 40:31; Nehemiah 8:10). We abide in Christ and enter into His rest while we wait on His direction (Hebrews 4:10; Proverbs 3:5-6); then, we walk in obedience to His will moment by moment throughout the day (Deuteronomy 28:2).

Prayer:

Father God, You can work through us only when we cease from our human labors and enter into Your rest (Hebrews 4:10). You give us both the desire and the power to accomplish Your will in our life (Philippians 2:12-13). We relish Your divine presence within us and we desire nothing more than to walk in Your power through each moment of our day at work, at home, in the community and in church services. We want nothing more than to abide in Your presence and to be led by Your Spirit and to watch Jesus work through us during each moment of the day.

Thought for the Day:
May our soul yield its thoughts, choices and emotions to the direction of God's divine Spirit one moment at a time.