The world screams loudly and clamors for our attention.  It pulls and tugs in a thousand directions until we are no longer certain which way we originally intended to go.  False worldly wisdom is whispered in our ears. Shiny things are paraded before us and don’t they all just seem lovely?

We feel the need to fill every moment of every day with engagements and activities. We have bought into the notion that we need to be constantly busy and then, just for good measure, record our constant busyness online for all of our “friends.” Then, we wonder why our bodies are tired and our spirits are restless.

Aspire to live quietly… – 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ESV

Live quietly.  That, Paul says, should be our goal.  Yet, don’t we often find ourselves seeking just the opposite? This world has established a culture of name droppers and bigger is better. People are terrified of being overlooked and deemed unworthy of the spotlight.  The spotlight, however, shines on those who chase it and that is simply not our place.

Christ followers are called to the quiet.  The hushed dedication of nightly prayers with little ones.  The whispered good-nights that the rest of the world never hears.  The silent devotion of a marriage that holds fast year after year. Bibles full of heartfelt notes and tear stained pages.

Maybe no one sees the effort you put into your job day after day. Maybe no one applauds for the dishes you wash at eleven o’clock at night or the cheerios you sweep up for the forty-third time.  Or maybe, Someone does see and maybe He does applaud because He sees you living the quiet life and it pleases Him greatly.

It’s acceptable to be still.  Rest is okay.  There is nothing wrong with ceasing from your labor, enjoying the silence and, as Paul says, minding your own affairs.

Let the world be loud and attention-seeking.  Choose, instead, to answer the call to be quiet.

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A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. ~Bertrand Russell