“and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11b NASB
I sit in my office this morning and the rays of the sun are beaming through my windows, warming both the room and my spirit. Outside it is yet another balmy sunny January day in Guadalajara, a tropical clime that sees winters bring abundant sunshine in the place of snow. And as a result of that tropical temperature, I see blurs of color and movement speeding by outside my window. Hummingbirds. Ever so ready to escape the winters temps in the north, they migrate south. South to my front yard. And to welcome them in their journey I have strategically placed a nectar feeder directly outside of my office windows to observe and admire their colorful plumage. And what I notice is that hummingbirds live lives that generate much noise. The mere rapid beating of their miniature wings generates more noise than seems possible. And it brings to mind the contrast between the world outside my window and the Word of God I hold in my hands. For in chapter 4 of Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica I hear instructions to do the opposite of this world…to live a life that generates not noise, but quiet.
Our world today generates a lot of noise. A lot. Televisions, iPads, smartphones, movie screens, and billboards all scream the messages of Netflix, CNN, Prime, FOX, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and consumerism into our daily lives. As a result, a noisy world creates noisy lives. Lives are jam-packed full of the messages of propaganda, fear, advertising, political agenda, and conspiracy theory that resonate from the airwaves directly into the minds and lives onto which they settle. But here in the Word of God, as usual, we see a message that calls us into something just the opposite of what the world offers. Lives that seek a gentle, quiet silence.
Silence today seems a rare commodity indeed. In fact, I would venture to say the average life at rest today is a life lived in the non-stop noise and distraction that the world peddles to it ever so well. You see, to live a quiet life, you must as God’s Word instructs, be ambitious about it. Oxford defines ambition as “a strong desire to do or achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.” So the question arises, today are you strongly determined through hard work to locate and ensure that quiet defines your life or are you complacent in being a life that generates as much noise and activity as the hummingbirds outside my window?
It’s curious that we hear a foreshadowing of this principle way back in verse 10 of David’s 46th Psalm. “Be still and know that I am God.” Be very careful to note the order of the verse. Being still comes first. Folks, a quiet life is a life that first generates the still space needed to hear from the Lord. In contrast, a life that is full of noisy activity is normally one that finds little time to be still and hear from the Lord.
We live in a world today that devalues being still and quiet. We instead see a world that places great value in the life that is busy, noisy, and generates something of a spectacle for the world to watch. Just look to the countless reality TV shows that are based on watching noisy, train-wreck-lives, resulting in millions tuning in to watch the spectacle of those lives every week. Can you imagine a reality TV show based on watching a quiet, still, simple life? Folks, today don’t buy into what the world values, a noisy, busy, distracted life that is quick to choke out the voice of the Lord. Instead, look to what the Lord values…a quiet life lived in simple stillness allowing it to readily hear the soft whispers of the Lord's instruction.
Strive in great ambition today to live a life that is free of distractions, meaningless activity, and the noise of this world. Replace it all with simple quiet that will allow your spirit to be at rest, draw to the feet of the Jesus, and be ready to hear the most important message there is…the Word of the Lord.
Blessings to you in this new year ~ Dan
"Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching. But Martha, overly occupied and too busy, was distracted with much serving…” Luke 10:38-40a AMPC
photo ~ San Pancho, Nayurit, Mexico
