Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Isaiah 30:15 # 4 Don't Shun Quietness


Isaiah 30:15
“For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
'In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.'
But you were not willing.”

Don't Shun Quietness

How does one begin to be quiet? Habakkuk presented his petition before God. IE pouring out his heart then he waited for God to speak.

Elijah went from Beersheba to mount Horeb in 40 days to listen to God. Traveling and hard work enables us to quiet our soul to listen. 1 Kings 19:3-19
Mt. Horeb's location is not known but it could be near Mt. Siani or some even say it is the same mountain. Traveling from Beersheeba to Mt Horeb was a journey into the wilderness. Elijah was likely familiar with this type of travel


The Psalms talk of rising early to be with God. Early morning present a quiet time where we won't be disturbed. A mind and heart undevided and focused on the Lord is what is needed. I personally find going into the woods will present many opportunities to quiet my soul to hear God and rest in His presence.

Strength comes from waiting on the Lord. Isa 40:31 and the next verse Isaiah 41:1 Says Coast lands listen to me in silence and let the peoples gain new strength. This quiet waiting is essential for Christian vitality. Yet in this world we have mp3 players, radios, computers, cell phones, TV''s, cars, and much to keep our life busy with the hustle and bustle of life. It is shunning these things and allowing out heart to reach God in the quiet times of life that bring strength.

One of the things brought to my attention about this quietness pursuit was the way Jesus sought out times of prayer. He would look for places to pray. And would go there and the disciples would look for Him and find Him praying. It would do us well to follow this example of looking for places to pray and be quiet before the Lord. I am now coming to see the wisdom in this attitude.

Steps to quietness:
Set aside time to be quiet before the Lord
If there is something bothering you, and you can't put it aside then pray over that till there is peace. This is what I call praying through. Philippians 4:6-9 explain this. We are asked (commanded) to pray about what is bothering us. Don't ignore what is bothering you. There are not shortcuts in the spirit. If we try short cuts, then the problem will fester and will have to be dealt with at a later time and more likely it will be worse.
First kneel or present yourself before the Lord in a humble way.
Second Talk to God and tell Him you are here and are waiting before Him to listen to Him.
Third as your mind starts to wander think of a verse that promises God speaking to you. And thank Him for it.
Fourth just worship God with quietness.
Move back to being quiet each time your mind wanders. The issue is not being perfect but available. Sometimes it is good to ask God a question. Then be quiet to listen to the answer.

An idea may come during this time that might be from the Lord. Don't accept anything you hear without testing it with Scripture. Jesus won't be put out by this. He knows our frailty and weakness of spirit. We are to examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good. 1 Thes 5:21

WAIT ON THE LORD
Some would say take courage. But how do you take courage? Ps 27:14 Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, yes wait for the Lord.

Waiting for the Lord is the way to let your heart take courage.
Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

Waiting involves crying out to God.

Waiting patiently signifies that He does not always answer instantly.

Living with right attitude means living with an attitude of waiting!
What does living with an attitude of waiting consist of? Having an expectancy! Saying, "What is God going to do?"

James 4:7-11 Crying out to God and humbling yourself before Him. Is a way to seek Him. I am doing it in the truck while I drive. I want to have my mind on Him all the time. Or to put it another way, put my mind towards Him each moment that is available. There are times for mourning before Him, and then there are times of being thankful. I will go with what I sense.

Submit therefore to God. Be ready to obey. Why wait for God if you aren't going to do what He says? There is strength in obedience. Obedience can move us into love.
Forests wait for spring before springing into growth. The conditions must be right for them to start. Our waiting before God will give us the conditions for growth. If a tree puts out growth too soon those new shoots will die back in late frosts. If we start before God's ability our works will be cut back. Waiting seems to be a waste of time but with wisdom we learn it's worth.

For many the place of waiting would be going to church often. For others with more growth, it would be times of quietness before God.

Woods after a snow. Quiet, a few birds flew through trees. All quiet in the forest. Forest waits for spring. The randomness of tree branches. All buttoned up for winter.


There is one thing about waiting on the Lord, you never know when or how He is going to show up. I was sitting in my work truck doing paperwork. A resident asked me if I would clear his street of leaves. I did it for him and that is all I needed to fix my plow. It was not raising up like it should after a recent snow. It saved me from taking it to the shop for repair. A simple solution of driving with the plow down caused the hydrophilics to work. I think God sent that man to request help to disclose the simple solution I needed.

What was I doing? Going about my normal day. I hadn't even prayed about the problem. But I was in prayer.

If I don't set a time to seek God then it is passed by. For me one of the best times to seek God is after family devotions. Many would suggest early in the morning. For me, Being awake and getting ready for work sometimes hinder my time to seek God. I am learning to have a plan for devotions each morning.

Hiked to Hidden Valley outlook. Why am I here? I am here because I need God? If God gave me strength I wouldn't be here seeking Him. Why then should He give me strength? I need to obey God before I can expect His strength!

Walking along a soggy trail from melting snow, my boot slipped in the mud scarring the ground. Scarred ground in the winter will stay scarred until growth comes to heal it. Wait on God, for you will not be healed until He comes.

Woods prepare for winter, by divesting themselves of work, (dropping their leaves), and wait for warmth of Spring.

Have you ever had a job where there was nothing to do so your boss handed you a broom and you swept the floor more than once just to stay busy. How much of our Christian activity is busy work? We could be waiting on God in prayer and have real assignments to do! I pray that what I do is not busy work. Am I just being busy to show others that I am an honorable Christian?
Do we neglect our responsibilities in order to wait on God? No.
Do we shy away from trying in order to wait on God? No.

Wait for basic direction. Be about these activities. Then wait for further input from God.

It seems to me that if you don't have basic direction you should really push hard on waiting before the Lord.

Take vacation time. Look for spare moments. Do what you got to do to get to God.

2 comments:

  1. Excellent Scott... I would purchase such writings if they were in print. You truly aspire to 2 Timothy 2:15

    ReplyDelete
  2. I plan to put these Isaiah 30:15 articles in a booklet. (self published, self printed) I will continue to go over to refine. My next step is to add to my web page

    ReplyDelete