Is your life quiet enough to hear the heartbeat of Jesus? How do we find the time or the quiet to really listen for a sound so foreign that we might not even know what we are listening for?
Some of the answers are found in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, which instructs us to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life. Or, as one translation puts it, we are to “study to be quiet.”
How unexpected—quietness is something that must be sought and studied. Silence and solitude are not in our DNA. They are qualities of life that have to be desired and learned.
It is in times of solitude and silence that I can quiet myself and listen for the heartbeat of Jesus. This is not easy in a culture that is addicted to activity. If distractions speak louder than the voice of God, how much more difficult it must be to hear his heartbeat! Yet it is in those quiet times, those separate times, that his still, small voice is heard and the passion of his heart is felt. It is these times that give color to the activities of my life.
A poem by Anne Morrow Lindbergh speaks of this learned activity of solitude:
It is a difficult lesson to learn today, To leave one’s friends and family and deliberately practice the art of solitude for an hour or a day or a week For me, the break is most difficult . . . And yet, once it is done, I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before!
How have you woven solitude and silence into the culture of your life and how has that quietness taught you to listen for the heartbeat of Jesus? Please share your wisdom with us in the comment section below. (And, if you liked this post, please pass it on via the Share and Enjoy icons below.)
In Him together, Susan Gaddis
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