Confidence In Christ: A Devotional For Teen Girls

When It's Quiet

He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10

I'll be honest, I'm an extravert. I'm not necessarily a loud or overly-out-there-extravert, but I'm an extravert nonetheless. To many, I would probably look more like an introvert, due to the fact that I prefer someone else to lead the conversation, but get energized around people, qualifying me for that title.

That being said, I love being around people and hearing the joys-and-noises of life; silence is basic my worst enemy. I typically have music playing, a book in hand, or a TV show on. Sometimes I even do a couple of those things at once.

Yes, I'm a millennial.

I enjoy stimuli, and I believe that in some ways, this tends to bleed into my life. As an author at heart, I tend to long for grand moments, the kind that you wait for at the end of a novel. I've had a couple of those types of moments this year, but as the year has closed, and summer has crept upon me, I've kind of found myself going crazy, battling my OCD more than usual.

However, I believe God is trying to teach me something in the midst of it; He's teaching me how to live in the calm, live in the ordinary. The crazy thing about life, is that it keeps going. Movies close with credits and maybe outtakes, but life continues, making it unparalleled to most forms of media. Furthermore, while we might easily find songs about self-discovery, changing the world, or finding love, we rarely lyrics about eating a sandwich or emptying the dishwasher. Recently, I read a book called Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman, which really resented with this part of me. She does a beautiful job at tackling the challenge of living in the silence, and one quote stands out in particular.

"What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them."

God is alive in every moment.

Not just the mountain tops.

Not just the bucket list items.

Not just the walking-on-sunshine-moments.

Each and every moment of life.

God is alive in the most unusual, hilarious conversations with your friend. God is alive as you brush your teeth in the morning. God is alive in the moments of concentration, trying to find the perfect sentence for that novel or essay.

God is alive in the silence as much as He's alive in the excitement. This is something that I'm still learning, but I'm learning to believe it more with each sentence that I type.

God is still God, from the peaks of Mount Sinai to the lights of New York City to the calm of a small town. He's working in your life even during the times that feel most silent. He's too sovereign to confine Himself only to big moments.

He is alive both the noise and the silence, wherever you find yourself right now.

God is here. In your life. In mine. In each and every moment that we breathe.

And because of this, we can find peace when living in the quiet.

Discussion Question - Do you struggle with being still? Why do believe this is a struggle for so many?