Throughout more than 30 years with chronic degenerative multiple sclerosis, I have spent long periods of time convalescing. It was in the solitude and stillness of my sickroom that God’s voice became increasingly evident. Is that a blessing? Yes. I have drawn closer to my Redeemer despite and even because of my illness and vulnerability.
I think a tool of Satan is to create frenetic activity and noise in people’s lives to block out the voice God. Quietude is sacred: Sometimes achieving it must be deliberately sought by people.
In the 15th Century Christian classic book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) he wrote:
“I will listen to what the Lord God will say to me.[1] Blessed is the soul that listens when the Lord speaks to it [2] and receives consoling words from His lips.
“Blessed are the ears that are attuned to God’s quiet whisper [3] and ignore the world’s raucous sounds. Blessed, indeed, are the ears that disregard the noises outside and wholly attend to the voice teaching truth within.
“Blessed are the eyes that are closed to the outer world and are fixed on interior things. Blessed are they who discover these inward realities and try to prepare themselves by daily prayerful exercises to better understand the secrets of heaven. Blessed are they who are wholly occupied with God and have shaken off the manacles of the world.”
God says in the Psalms to “Be still, and know that I am God.”[4] Jesus sought solitude of the wilderness to pray and spend time with God the Father.
Quietude is an important aspect to the Christian’s prayer life. And as Thomas a Kempis alluded to, we must guard what comes in to us through our eyes and ears and may corrupt our interior spiritual lives or divert our attention from God.
Guard your quiet moments with God and purity of your heart. Perhaps a sweet and divine inkling may awaken within you and break your heart (like it did mine) to discover that God has been with you since your earliest childhood days of quiet and purity. God is the source of true Joy.
