in the noisy generation, quietness is a challenge, so being quiet requires determination and courage. Otherwise, people can't calm down and life can't slow down. Just like good tea, you should taste it slowly, and the beauty of life needs to be slowly passed and savored. Look at the flowers, listen to the rain, look at the stars and listen to the wind. Don't always be driven by demand and chased by time; Can't always be like a top, constantly whipped and constantly rotating; It can't be like the churning sea, which can't be calm, and the water in it often gushes out filth and silt (see entry 57: 2).
if you have too many desires, you will have too many affairs, and it will be difficult for you to calm down. When people are impetuous inside, they will appear irritable outside, and irascible people will have a great temper and a lot of grievances. Complain about this and that. Complaining about the sky, complaining about people, even complaining about yourself, complaining that you are not as good as people, complaining that you are not smart, complaining that you are not beautiful, and so on.
There is a prolific Christian writer in Taiwan Province, who once wrote Brothers Love Rocking Mountains and Rivers and Three Wan Li-Livingston Biography in Africa. One of his poems is even more famous, and his name is Zhang Wenliang.
He wrote in his poem: God gave me a task to take a snail for a walk. I can't walk too fast, the snail has tried his best to climb, always moving a little bit at a time … Why does God want me to take a snail for a walk? "God! Why? " The sky is quiet ... Huh? I smell the flowers. There used to be a garden here. I feel the breeze blowing. The wind at night is so gentle. Wait! I hear birds, I hear insects, and I see how bright the stars are all over the sky. Huh? Why didn't you have these experiences before? It suddenly occurred to me that I was mistaken! It turns out that God told snails to take me for a walk.
all kinds of good things in life come one after another. At first, all kinds of grievances drifted away with the wind. Busy people, you might as well slow down your pace, savor life slowly, and have a good time in your heart.
Second, wait for your soul
There is an Indian proverb: "Don't walk too fast, please wait for your soul."
people's "growth" is very fast, and people's "growth" is very slow. The former talks about physiology, while the latter talks about psychology. People's maturity should be that the two go hand in hand and grow together. The maturity of the mind is related to the soul and closes the soul. Here, the way to be quiet is indispensable. People are social and need to communicate with others. However, this does not mean that people can ignore the interaction between people and themselves, and between people and creators. "God told a snail to take me for a walk", which is a way of life and a call to life. God calls people to be alone and get along with God alone every day. Without solitude and quietness, people may get lost in busy days, and people may live, be busy and run without soul. By being alone quietly, God frees us from external constraints and internal impulses, and clarifies our due pursuit and the true value of life. Living slowly and quietly is really a very necessary exercise.
it is good for people to look to the Lord and wait for his salvation in silence. (Lamentation 3: 26)
The Bible mentions a family with two sisters, one named Martha and the other named Mary. My sister is in a hurry because of many things; My sister listened quietly to Jesus' sermon and was scolded by her sister. Seeing this, Jesus said, "Martha, Martha! You worry about many things, but there is only one essential thing. Mary has chosen that good blessing, which cannot be taken away. " (Luke 1: 41-42)
What is good? In Jesus' view, it is a good blessing that people can long for the truth and get God's salvation and affirmation. Busy life takes away our desire for the truth and our "date time" with God.
Dating with God, which belongs to each other in silence, should become our daily class. In such a date, we are full of God's love, get God's salvation, understand God's expectations, and know what we should do now. The more we listen to the voice of God in us, the less we will be influenced by the external noise. The less manipulated by other people's expectations, the more open they are to God's expectations.
Children of God should be quiet, silently waiting for God's wisdom, and always come before God, not before people, because "God's stupidity is always smarter than people" (1 Cor. 1: 25); Children of God should be quiet and wait for God's salvation. God said, "because he loves me wholeheartedly, I will save him;" Because he knows my name, I will put him on a high place. If he calls on me, I will answer him; I want to be with him when he is in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. I will give him a long life and show him my salvation. " (Psalm 91: 14-16)
Fourth, it is a blessing in silence
The Bible says, "He who listens to me will live in peace, enjoy peace, and be not afraid of disaster." "Peace of mind is the life of the body, and jealousy is the rot in the bones." (Proverbs 1: 33, 14: 3)
When people are quiet, their mind is as still as water, and when they face interests, they are more calm and calm. Let nature take its course, be peaceful and relative, and there will be less unnecessary regrets in life; Without comparison, without competition, without entanglement and jealousy, you have to enjoy silence and physical and mental comfort.
Every day, we work quietly, sweat and eat our own food, and we have no quarrel with others and the world, so there will be no disaster and less trouble. Therefore, the scripture exhorts, "Be determined to be a quiet person, do your own thing and work with your own hands"; "Work quietly and eat your own food." (4: 11 before the post; Thessalonians 3: 12)
The above is about dealing with people in society. You should learn to be quiet and be blessed in silence. In addition, in the church, in the family, we should also know how to be quiet. The family should be orderly, and the church should not be chaotic. "Because God doesn't make people confused, but makes people quiet". (1 Cor. 14: 33) Everyone learns the Tao quietly, keeps the word of God, and obeys each other; Women don't rule men, just be quiet; As long as a woman adorns herself with a long, gentle and quiet heart, it is extremely precious before God. (2: 11-12 in advance; 1 Peter 3:4). Both men and women follow this instruction, and the church and family will be less noisy and cleaner, and the family will prosper and the church will prosper.
V. Getting wisdom in silence
The preacher said, "It is better to listen to the words of the wise in silence than to the cries of the fools in charge". (Ecclesiastes 9: 17)
People know how to wait in silence, but not in a hurry, not in a hurry, not in a hurry (bù yù nù bù hu ǒ, speaking and doing things with a moderate attitude and a proper measure; Indifferent attitude; Objectively neutral), itself is a kind of insight into the wisdom of things. Can we help it tear the cocoon apart before it breaks into a butterfly? I can't. If we are wise, we will wait quietly until the wings and stature inside grow, and then we can fly high.
do you know the production process of pearls? The mantle of mussels is stimulated by the invasion of foreign bodies, such as sand. The epidermal cells in the stimulated area take foreign bodies as the core and fall into the connective tissue of the mantle. Some of the trapped epidermal cells divide themselves to form pearl sacs, and the pearl sacs secrete nacre, coating the nuclei layer by layer to form pearls.
from breaking a cocoon into a butterfly to turning a grain of sand into a pearl, we gain wisdom, that is, the wisdom of waiting quietly. If we change the environment too quickly, it will not help if we hurry.
nowadays, looking around us, including ourselves, people are restless, overstaffed, eager for success and quick success, thinking about becoming famous overnight, getting rich overnight, taking shortcuts and getting something for nothing. These ideas are obviously immature, and such a life is obviously unwise. Wise people will understand that life needs to be accumulated, and it needs to be accumulated and made thin. Anything that needs to be done well needs to be prepared quietly, worked hard quietly and waited quietly.
It's just like when we drink tea, we need to wait quietly and patiently for boiling water to raise tea. When a pot of good tea is brewed, you will understand that all the quiet waiting before is worthwhile.
people learn to look at themselves in silence, so as not to belittle themselves or be pretentious. In silence, we see our weaknesses and shortcomings, just like the bare trees in winter, when all the leaves fall, the spots on the trees are exposed one by one. In fact, these shortcomings have always been there, but in the busy season, they are covered by green leaves. When the autumn wind blows everywhere, when the decoration is gone and the whole world is quiet, you will find that there are too many ugliness and absurdity in the naked and open life.
I can also see my limitations in silence. I thought I came to change the world, but I was changed by the world or changed with it. And understand that the world is not inseparable from me, even without me, the world has not suffered great losses. People can know their own weight and status clearly. They are not the center of the earth, and knowing themselves is a valuable wisdom.
six, get clear in silence
Jesus has one requirement for those who follow him, that is, clear heart. To be honest and careful, to wash your heart, there is no evil in your heart; Peace of mind is like water, and when something happens or conflicts of interest, it will not sink. Jesus called such people blessed. He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God." (Matt 5: 8) In quiet meditation and prayer to God, people confess their sins, wash away the dust of the soul, cleanse the dust of the soul, and wash their dusty hearts in the precious blood of Jesus. The atrium should be cleaned frequently, or it will be full of dust.
People's minds are easily occupied by various desires, and they also need to be illuminated and cleansed by holy words and the Holy Spirit in silence. Jesus once said to the crowd, "Be careful and self-controlled and avoid all greed; Because people's lives don't care about rich family resources. " (Luke 12: 15) A man needs very little in his life, but he wants a lot. People's hearts are insufficient, and it is difficult to fill their wants. The desire for money, beauty and power is as easy to burn yourself to death as fire; It's as easy to drown yourself as water. When people face the God who examines people's hearts, they can wash away their desires and stay clear in silence and self-examination.
David, a wise king of Israel, once wrote a poem: "Who can climb the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his sanctuary? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, does not swear to falsehood and does not harbor deceit. He will be blessed by the Lord and justified by the God of his salvation. " (Psalm 24: 35)
The pure in heart is blessed by God. We should come to God's sanctuary with a pure heart and worship God who makes us righteous.
people are inevitably tempted by temptation in troubled times, but it is difficult to be tempted without being confused. The glitz in the world, silk, gold and silver treasures, governs all beings, but it is precious not to be enslaved by things and not to be confused by things. Such a valuable quality requires serenity and determination; And this kind of meditation, this kind of determination comes from the firm ambition in the heart to achieve great vision.
At the age of 54, Zhuge Liang wrote his 8-year-old son, Zhuge Zhan, with a beautiful sentence: "If you are indifferent, you won't have a clear ambition, and if you are quiet, you won't be far away", which means that only a quiet and indifferent heart can lead a successful life.
During his service, Jesus, the son of man, was often asked to support him as king, so he left and went to other places to be quiet and alone. His disciples said to him, Teacher, many people are looking for you! The disciples were controlled and manipulated by the demands of the people, but Jesus did not. He knows exactly what he wants and what he should do. Jesus said unhurriedly, let's go, get out of here and go to other places to preach the gospel. This is why I came to this world. The world is so impetuous, you have to be quiet inside, only when you are quiet can you be clear, and only when you are clear can you know what to do.
VII. Strength in Silence
The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, once said, "Your salvation lies in returning to rest, your strength lies in peace and stability, and you refuse to compete." (Is 3: 15)
How God expects his people to understand the beauty and benefits of quietness, but people often refuse to pay attention to them. Faced with various challenges in life, work and interpersonal relationships, many people feel powerless, nervous and fearful. Trying to hide or dilute this feeling with busyness is an extravagant hope to solve the problem by avoiding the problem. Through his words, God told us a positive and effective way to solve the problem, that is, to look up to God in silence. God said to people, "You should rest and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46: 1)
God promises to give people strength when they look up to him quietly. Being quiet before God means being connected with the source of strength and living.