The Quiet
Is your week between Christmas and New Years mostly quiet? Are there things that you normally do during this week? Do you take this week to recover from the Christmas and holiday festivities? Is this a time when you reflect on this year and think about next year?
For me, this week tends to be somewhat quiet, and I try to clean up all the Christmas residue, along with taking some pause. Yesterday, my son and I finished a pretty difficult puzzle, and it was nice to use my brain in this way – matching shapes, colors, sizes, looking for pieces, etc. I’ve also been trying to take a daily walk, to get some fresh air and some motion. On one of my recent walks, I had a good chat with God about my interior.
In this chat, I felt like God was talking with me about external pursuits in an effort to resolve internal desires. This reminded me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 6:9 which says, “It is better to see what you have than to want more. Wanting more is useless—like chasing the wind.” (New Century Version). In relation to chasing the wind, the pursuit of things like achievements, pleasures, etc., these pursuits can often evaporate once we seem to obtain them. This kind of quest is like hoping to get a delicious bite of steak (or fish, or some crunchy vegetable) and realizing that the cotton candy evaporated in your mouth.
I see this mirage syndrome in a variety of displays: rich people who never have enough, beautiful people who get innumerable surgeries, foodies who are never satisfied, type A personalities who can never achieve enough and the list can continue in lots of different contexts.
So, what’s the secret sauce for staying fulfilled and satisfied? During my God chat, I was also reminded of the verse in Job 20:20, “Because he knew no quiet within him, he does not retain anything he desires.” This is a really powerful verse to think about with some reflection. One thing that I did with this verse is to take out the negatives, such that it could read: Because he had some quiet within him, he retains what he desires.
As we ponder this, let’s consider what desires we might be trying to retain when we chase after various things. Maybe if we are pursuing money, is it possible that our real desire is to feel significant or important? It’s possible that this desire for significance can also be displayed in the pursuits of achievement, beauty, educational accolades, etc. If we are continually criticizing or competing to get ahead or be first, is it possible that our core motive is to be in control? What do we really want at the core of our various pursuits?
These are a few things to think about, if you take some time to ask yourself, “What do I want? What do I desire?”. In asking this question, I’d suggest that the next step to retaining what you desire is to keep some quiet in your soul, based on Job 20:20.
You can do this by making some intentional pauses, maybe without your phone, to reflect and be still. Consider if there are some worries that you could put in God’s hands. Listen if there’s something God wants to communicate with you. Perhaps consider a Bible verse that is coming to your mind and give it your attention. I’d suggest that most importantly, you have some moments to be available for God to love you because fundamentally, that’s who God is, based on 1 John 4:8. If there’s anything important for the beginning of your 2024, it’s the deeply rooted truth and reality that God loves you, full stop. Let’s find the quiet in our souls by nestling into God’s endless love for us! Happy New Year!