How do we remain still in a fast-paced world?
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Psalm 62:5–8 (ESV)
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us
Most Christians would probably struggle with the balance of duty and delight in their quiet time. For most of us, our perspective on quiet time is that it is not a state of duty alone, wherein it already becomes a burden for us, that we HAVE to do it because God, the church, the caregroup leader, and everyone else says so. BUT, our quiet time is not also on the other side of the spectrum, wherein there is full of delight, as if we just cannot wait to talk to God.
Rather, I believe, most of us struggle because we are in the middle of the two perspectives. Quiet time is not exactly a burden, but it’s also not exactly the thing we look forward to at the start or at the end of the day. It has become a routine. In focusing on so much on the “How tos”, “Why I have tos”, and “Why I have to want tos”, we forget to ask the question on the “Why I want to” and “How can I want to”
Last April, three of our brothers and sisters in Christ shared their personal experience with their devotions and quiet times with God. Allow me to share three common traits that I picked up on every time they do their personal devotion.
- Stillness
Psalm 62:5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
One noticeable thing that was seen in all of the testimonies, was the habit of being still before God. We live in a fast-paced world. We constantly have the thought in our subconscious minds, “I cannot stop now. Too much is at stake. There is still so much to do.” The Christian who has the joy in spending time with the Lord, often forces the self to slow down, slow down in spite of the world’s quick updates. Slow down despite the tons of deadlines and projects piling up on our plates. Slow down. In the quickness of our world, we can only hear God if we slow down to a stop.
Until our hearts can tune out the world, and until our eyes are securely fixed towards God, we will be able to hear God as if He is beside us, and we will be able to see Him as if we are face to face with Him.
2. Desperation
Psalm 62:6
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
In each of the Christian’s testimony, it was not the person’s consistency of schedule, that kept them having an on-fire relationship with God, rather it was the urgency, the desperation, the cry of the heart shouting “Lord, I need you. I cannot do this without you. Uphold me with your righteous right hand. Strengthen me with your power.” It is in our most troubling times, the times when we are stuck in the valley of the shadow of death, when we cry out and moan before the Lord. It is when we are drowning, when we plead and present our broken hearts before the Lord. It is only when we acknowledge that He alone, He only is our rock, our salvation, and our fortress, can we see true intimacy.
3. Hunger
Psalm 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
From afar, it would be seen that desperation and hunger are very similar traits, and it looks as if the two traits can overlap with each other. But allow me to explain. Desperation is the cry due to seek for God’s strength and wisdom in our circumstances, while hunger is the craving of the soul, despite whatever circumstance we are facing, the struggle is to remain hungry and possibly even more as we grow more intimate with our walk with God. We can be desperate for God’s help but not be hungry to know Him. We can have the hunger to know Him but we might not be desperate to act upon it.
Three traits. Essential but not pointed out. And yes, we can have our quiet time without these traits, but would it be of help for us to ignore them? Would it bring us closer and more intimate with the Lord if we choose to ignore to strive for these things?
The challenge still poses itself:
How do we remain still in a fast-paced world?
How do we stay desperate when the circumstances do not call for it?
How can we remain hungry for the Lord?
I believe, that question, is for you to answer.
“If we don’t spend time with God, we do not have a scheduling problem, we have a love problem. If you love someone, no matter how busy you are, you will always free up your time.”
