IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY
DAILY REFLECTIONS FOR LASTING PEACE
Copyright © 2018 by Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN, 37228-1306 or emailed to [email protected].
ISBN 978-1-5018-8109-1
Scripture quotations are taken from the Common English Bible,
copyright 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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PRINTED IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
It’s Noisy out There!
Now my head is higher than the enemies surrounding me . . . Lord, listen to my voice when I cry out!
—Psalm 27:6-7
Do you ever find yourself trying to calm the noise from the outside world, getting your head above the crowd so you can hear yourself think? This may not be exactly what David was thinking about here in this Psalm, but it’s always good to step back and step aside when you can so you can get a broader perspective. We often just need time to think our own thoughts.
Goethe said it this way: “All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.” We may not be trying to reinvent the wheel or come up with a cure for cancer, but we still need some quiet moments to withdraw from the crowds and hear not only our own voice, but God’s voice. It’s difficult for him to reach us when our thoughts are crowded out by all that goes on around us. As you go about your business today, take a few moments to be silent somewhere. Then give God thanks for all that he has to share with you.
Accept his gift of peace.
IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY
Lord, sometimes I go for days without a break, doing everything that needs to get done, running faster than my feet can keep up, and certainly faster than my thoughts can take root. Be with me and help me find the quiet time to hear your voice. Amen.
He Will Lift You Higher
My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans. Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and don’t return there without watering the earth, making it conceive and yield plants and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater, so is my word that comes from my mouth; it does not return to me empty.
—Isaiah 55:8-11
Some people are planners. They like to map out every step they’ll take on a given day. Other people are just the opposite. They run with the wind here and there. They somehow still manage to get along on their intended course.
The tricky part of the planning process is that God is also planning, and he’s been planning your steps since the day you took your first breath. You were designed for a certain mission, a purpose that only you and he will actually ever know. So, the problem with planning is that it requires more than an action based on what you want. It requires you to listen for the voice of the One who speaks to you often and creates the best opportunity for his plans to come to fruition.
Step out in faith and leave the planning to God.
God knows why he made you. He planned for you to have an abundant life, filled with joy, enriched by his guidance through the Word. Step out in faith and leave the planning to God.
IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY
Lord, I always make lists of things I need to do. I hope that you help me create those lists, but I also ask that you would help me create the priorities. I want to work with you every day. Amen.
When You Sign Up With God
I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our LORD: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.
—Romans 8:38-39
The good news about planting your feet squarely in God’s territory is that once you do, unless you put in a big request to be removed from the space, you are connected to him for all eternity. You’re his child, and you get the benefits of a relationship that’s like no other.
In fact, Paul says with great certainty that “nothing” can separate you from the love of God. Those are big words. Those are words to hold on to because they affect you today and tomorrow and always. You are part of God’s family, in his will for the rest of eternity. You inherit all that he has for you.
When you discovered the faith in your heart, the faith that desires to walk with Jesus, the faith that is tutored by the Holy Spirit and led by the God of the universe, you signed up forever. Not only that, but God signed up forever with you. It was a mutual agreement.
Recognize the forever inheritance that comes from your relationship with God.
Today, tomorrow, and always, remember that you are never far from the love of the One who bought you at a great price.
IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY
Lord, thank you for being with me, not just today, but always. Thank you for loving me even more than I really understand.
