Enter the Quiet

“In quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Chemotherapy caused me to have vertigo for several weeks. This was not the kind of vertigo another pill would help and not the kind through which I could function at all. If I closed my eyes it got worse. Since by then I didn’t have enough energy to walk to the mailbox, and couldn’t have without throwing up from  the dizziness anyway, all I could do was lie on my living room sofa and look out the front window. I couldn’t watch TV, look at a computer screen, or even read. My arms were too weak to hold a phone to my ear. So the only entertainment I had was what I thought about. Talk about quiet!

I didn’t want to be quiet. Never asked for quiet. I fought against the quiet. But in my quiet state, I found trust. I stopped trusting myself and even the medical treatment, because at one point there seemed to be no hope for recovery. I clung to Jesus and His strength began to seep into my body. Then I knew He would heal me.

I did get better. Eventually. Slowly. But when my normal life resumed, the craziness did, too. I tried to control my schedule, but events kept happening that I could not control. Finally one day, my husband and I decided we had to run away. That weekend, we drove to a nearby city and got a hotel room. It seems ironic now, but we were desperate for quietness.

In the solitude of our car, with phones turned off, we were able to talk about and process all the events that made us feel like we’d been thrown into a blender. As we enjoyed the first time alone in weeks, we relaxed and rested in the Lord’s provision of wisdom for decisions we needed to make. The respite filled us with a reservoir of strength to face the onslaught we knew would come when we turned our phones back on.

Maybe God doesn’t need to teach you in such dramatic ways, but we all do find modern life stressful and relentless at times. Find a quiet place today. Spend some time telling God you choose to trust Him for the outcome of whatever situations you’re in. You will then find His strength.

Photo/”Dock”/Sample Pictures