Peggy's Story

The informational sign plastered at the end of the long hallway intrigued her: "Things to do for Healthy Living."

She pondered it over and over as she walked the hospital corridors trying to reach her goal of a mile a day—an ambitious trek for someone recovering from lung cancer.

Scattered among the advice you would expect were two surprises: ten minutes of quiet each day and a daily Bible reading time.

A daily Bible reading time (Peggy called it her quiet time) was an ingrained part of her life. But this sign differentiated between 'quiet' and her 'quiet time'. It caused her to pause.

Quietness (not just a quiet time) – a key for physical health.

A year and a half later, Peggy and her husband Randy were on home leave from their responsibilities with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) at the Black Forest Academy where they had been serving for the last 13 years. They attended a retreat sponsored by Barnabas, a missionary care organization. Again, the Lord challenged her with the concept of quiet.

One morning the participants were invited to enjoy a morning of quiet starting  when they woke up, no talking with their spouse, no visiting around the breakfast table. After eating they would go by themselves to rest their minds and listen for the voice of God. For Peggy it was a bit weird, but refreshing at the same time as she sat by the water, just she and God.

In the quietness of the morning two things came into focus.

1.   She realized to enjoy the quiet she needed to be confident of her security in   Christ. She clung to Romans 11:29.

2.   God illustrated this security for her with the memory of the CT scans she experienced because of her lung cancer. The technicians doing the scans and the doctors reading them know everything about her physically. Her interior body is naked before their eyes.

Being quiet before God is like being naked, exposed before Him, similar to Eve in the garden, she was naked and not ashamed. Genesis 2:25.  

 

Quietness – also a key for spiritual health.

I too have learned to start my quiet time with a time of quiet: I love to be still and enjoy God's creation, resting with Him before opening my Bible. I want to be  present to the one who is present with me. It is good.

“People expect too much from speaking, and too little from silence.”                Henri J.M. Nouwen.

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’” Isaiah 30:15