Cultivating a Quiet Heart in the Midst of Mayhem

Written by Erin Richer

It seems the world is burning. God silenced the world through Covid-19. He insisted we all take a break for a bit. And then the ground began to shake.

Locust swarms and dust clouds from Africa, famines, racial tensions peaking and spreading across the globe, and it feels like our nation is irreparably fractured and our world collapsing. 

For me, whenever major life events take place, I can always trace a supernatural draw to Scripture occurring for a long season before the crises; so I know it’s no mistake that I am immersed in the Word of God more than I’ve ever been before. In fact, I have found it to be consistent with God’s rhythm in my life. 

One of the things I love about Naomi as we studied chapter one of the book of Ruth is that she knows God. She has been handed incredibly bitter life circumstances, but she recognizes the hand of God on her life and when it can’t get any worse, she goes back home to Him. This is a characteristic that is unique to God’s people. When we see terrible things happening to us and around us, we know that we can trust that a sovereign God is at work. Even beyond that and far more importantly, we know He is good and His plans are forever and ever… good. Even when we can’t see it, we trust in His always unexpectedly awesome goodness.

When I read Isaiah 64, I am greatly encouraged:

“Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence— As when a forest catches fire, as when fire makes a pot to boil— To shock your enemies into facing you, make the nations shake in their boots! You did terrible things we never expected, descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence. Since before time began no one has ever imagined, No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:1-3 MSG

The world trembles, to give God’s enemies a reason to face Him and they have a choice to do so and surrender, or remain turned away from Him. While we get to be witnesses to the peace in the midst of the terror that comes from the choice to surrender, ultimately their decision is between them and Him. As for those of us who have already made the choice to offer our lives as living sacrifices to the sovereign goodness of God, we have a different kind of work to do in the midst of all of the mayhem: wait for Him—expectantly and full of hope.

I’m finding the amount that I immerse myself in the world’s conversations is inversely proportional to the amount of peace and joy that I experience during these unexpected times. So let’s be a people who immerse ourselves in and wait for Him. Let’s be a people who can be found amidst the sound of the turning of soft paper pages of the Bible and on our knees praying, “Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend.” (Isaiah 64:1 MSG) When we’re done, let us rise from the floor, and say, 

“I’ve kept my feet on the ground, I’ve cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content. Wait Israel, for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always!” Psalm 131:2-3 MSG

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