Word of Encouragement Devotional: What Does it Mean to Quiet Your Soul?

Our minds can get cluttered and contaminated with worries, frustrations, and stressors. When our minds become disturbed with the negative and what all is wrong or could go wrong, we become anxious and fearful. An anxious and fearful mind leads to unrest or a feeling of uneasiness.

With all the negative clatter that comes to us through people, circumstances, and even the news; we need time to quiet our souls. Our minds were not created to deal with the constant stress and negativity that is all around, we were meant to live in peace and harmony. Sometimes in life our peace can be affected if we don’t take the time to align ourselves with stillness. Stillness can be a foreign concept to our busy and fast-paced way of living, but stillness before the Lord is not only soothing to our souls but it quiets our alarming thoughts.

Reflect: →Quieting your soul is especially important if you have been feeling the stress and strains of life and feel that you are more irritable, aggravated, or tense.

→Quieting your soul allows you to breathe and be at rest properly. Being tense or easily upset over matters causes your breathing to be labored, but being quiet and still will cause you to breathe normally.

→Your soul and spirit are connected but they are not the same. Oftentimes, our souls are so anxious and disturbed that we have difficulty hearing God in our spirit. What is in your soul can be released and turned over to the care of the Lord during your quiet times.

There are benefits to having quietness before the Lord:

1.      Peace washes over you as you focus your attention on God alone rather than your problems. Quietness is a gateway for calmness and tranquility.

2.      Quieting your soul can allow God to give you direction and clarity.

3.      Quietness relaxes your body, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, and promotes creativity.

How will you quiet your soul?

Quiet Your Spirit

Quiet your spirit and allow God to take your burdens. Rest in Him.

There are many distractions that compete for our time, such as, family responsibilities, work, ministry, friends, and even time on social media and other electronic devices. If we truly want to hear God’s voice, we must unplug from all these sources at times. You may not think that is possible, but there can be a balance, with God the Father getting first priority.

In God’s presence our spirit gets a rest, and we are quieted from the hustle and bustle of life. God gives each one of us the same amount of time every day, however, not all of us use our time wisely. We spend our time on frivolous things or waste it away on countless hours on Facebook, tweeting, checking emails, texts, and other social media accounts.

If your mind has been cluttered, and your living life in a hurry, it’s time to step away and get into the presence of God. Our brains are on overload, and if we do not stop and take the time to unplug from distractions, we can end up overwhelmed and fatigued. We are not meant to go non-stop, and never pull away from our activities. Even Jesus pulled away from the crowds to be alone with the Father. Distractions, are just that, they distract us from keeping our full focus on Jesus. Some distractions like work and family responsibilities cannot always be avoided, but there can be a balance with these responsibilities. If we are feeling anxious, worried, defeated, overwhelmed, or fearful, our spirit needs to be calmed. This cannot come from the world, but only through time with the Lord. There is no substitute for this kind of time.

You can have tranquility in your spirit by listening to praise music, sitting quietly before God, reading the Word of God, journaling what God speaks to you, reading the book of Psalms, and unplugging from sources of interferences. You may need to do this for a half day, whole day, or however long it takes to be at peace. It is okay not to be at every activity, every event, meet everyone’s needs all the time, check your email and social media, and even to turn your phone off when you can. There was a time when we lived without cellphones and a time we did not have computers or the internet. Live uncluttered as much as possible.

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me besides the still waters.” Psalm 16:9