In Quietness + Trust
“…in quietness and trust is your strength…”
(Isaiah 30:15)
When I was a child, I used to get the school bus to go to school. I remember that if they were a few minutes late, my heart would start to beat faster, and as soon as they would arrive I would make sure they knew about how late they were and that I would be late because of them. I even had a watch, which I would use to check if they were on time. If they were delayed once, that was it; I would never trust them again. The funny thing is that I was never late for school. And today I know that I worried for nothing.
Trust has never come easy to me. It wasn't something that I was gifted by birth. People sometimes talk about it as if it's a positive trait, but I know it's not. It's something I have struggled with my whole life; maybe it's my personality, maybe my enneagram type, who knows. But when it comes to my relationship with God, trust is essential. Without it, I know that this relationship becomes complicated. I know that often good things don’t come easily for us, but if it is something worthwhile, I need to learn to develop it.
A while ago, God spoke to me about a specific passage—Isaiah 30:15. "In quietness and trust shall be your strength". I remember that when I read that passage, which I had never noticed before, my heart gave a little jump—a jump we all know: this is for me. The thing is, this passage goes on to say: "but you have none of it". To be fair, I knew that was true. Usually, I look very calm outside, but inside I have a storm raging within me. Growing up, that developed into anxiety, and if you never struggled with such a thing, please, celebrate!
For people like me, we have a constant dialogue in our minds. It's like a noise that doesn't stop and keeps reminding us of the unknown future and telling us that we have to maintain control of it.
The story of Isaiah 30 is a story that teaches us that God is the one in control of things, even when they appear otherwise. But His ways are not ours, and trust must be part of that process.
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, wanted to invade the land of Judah. When the Israelites learned of this, they allowed fear to take over and wanted to make an alliance with the King of Egypt in order to get some help. This alliance wouldn't honour God's name, and the reason behind it was a lack of trust in what God could do. So God sent the prophet Isaiah to warn His people about the problem they would create by doing such a thing. Isaiah then told them to be still—that that is where their salvation and strength would come. Probably not something expected by the people, as war seemed like the obvious choice. But rarely, God chooses the obvious.
We are not very different from them. As we face challenges, we prefer to rely on something tangible and visible rather than trust in God by embracing quietness fully. We don't want to be still. We want to do what we can, using our methods and our knowledge to change the situation. We prefer to have a good network of people who can then take us to where we want to be rather than to let God do things His way and in His time. We keep an eye on the clock, reminding God that He is late, and giving Him deadlines. We stop trusting Him and start doing things the way we think it would be better—which we know is never the case.
But He is gracious and wants us to learn to trust. He does this by speaking into our hearts.
The problem is that I want God to shout in my ears and tell me what to do, but I have realised that He won't shout louder than my own thoughts, than the voices in my head that tend to talk over His own. Many times, He wants my trust to be developed in quietness. His voice doesn't always come loud, but tends to be more like a gentle whisper saying: 'Quiet. Be still.' (Mark 4:39).
We live in a world that tells us to be loud and vocal about every single thing. A world that tells us to put ourselves out there, to self-promote, to compete, to be busy all the time, to be self-made. A world that attributes value to how visible we are. And we trade our peace and trust in God for human validation and acceptance. But what if we choose to quiet our souls and simply trust? What if we know that when our life is in the hands of God, every step is an arrival. We are not falling behind, and that we are not late nor losing?
What if we seek to live life as it says in Psalms 62:
”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.”
Our strength begins when we genuinely learn to quiet our souls before God. When we seek to find peace in His presence. When we turn off the noises around us and choose to meditate on His Word. When praying isn't a task but a conversation with the One who knows our hearts. Before anyone else, He is my counsellor. Our strength is found in our devotion to Him in the secret place. Circumstances may not change immediately, but neither do they change when we become desperate. We're simply wasting our strength on efforts that might fail. In desperation, we tend to sink like Peter while walking on water. But that will not happen if God is our rock and fortress; if our eyes remain steady staring at Him.
One thing I have learnt is that there's no way we can live in quietness if we don't learn to trust Him and His love. And that trust can only develop when we’ve decided to seek and to know His heart.
For you:
This week I want to encourage you to find a place and time to be quiet before God. Switch off your devices, music, or any noise you might use. Start with only 10 minutes, and every day add 10 minutes. With the Bible in your hands, read Psalms 62 and meditate on His word. Let God speak to your heart.
Revised by: Elena Walker
