Inner Peace

She was in her early teens when we were shopping before Christmas in a grocery store. It was crowded. People were rushing, some pushing. I said something about the hustle and bustle around us. My daughter replied, “But mom, we don’t have to hurry on the inside.”

She doesn’t remember saying this, but I’ve never forgotten it. Like a word from the Lord, it dove straight into my heart and became a goal, a target for my spiritual life. Being busy like Jesus was always busy, yet being totally at rest with peace and calm in the heart.

Today’s passage reminds me again of the wonder of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah is speaking of the turmoil in the lives of God’s people. He says it will persist, but even in this unrest, God is promising them peace. They will know the anxieties . . .

“. . . until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” (Isaiah 32:15–18)

The New Testament says it like this:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7)

Tozer gives solid advice about spiritual disciplines that cultivate this inner rest. While we cannot produce it, we can put ourselves in ‘places of grace’ where the Spirit is given freedom to enrich our souls with peace on the inside. Tozer says the first thing is to retire from the world each day to some private spot and stay there until the surrounding noises begin to fade and a sense of God’s presence replaces them. This means deliberately tuning out all unpleasant noise, both outer and inner, and listening for the Spirit’s voice. Learning to recognize it.

Also, stop all competition. Give myself to God and be what and who I am without any concern about what others think. This includes reducing my interests to a few. If my mind is filled with a dozen concerns, concentrate on the most important. I am with God. He deserves my full attention.

In this discipline of solitude, learn to pray inwardly. Soon prayer will happen while working, doing other things, even hurrying.

Along with solitude, God wants me to practice sincerity, childlike honesty, humility, singleness of purpose. Tozer says to read less but read more of what is important to my inner life. Call home my roving thoughts. Gaze on Christ with the eyes of my soul. Practice spiritual concentration.

All of this will not produce that peace that passes understanding. It comes from the Holy Spirit, but as Tozer says, God gives Himself to a heart that is detached. He would sooner be in a solitary heart than any other.

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” (Isaiah 57:15)

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, this week has been busy, yet You offered many reasons and occasions for that inner solitude, that being alone with You even in the midst of noise and busyness. How precious. And thank You for my daughter who cannot remember speaking for You that long ago day but is still a great blessing to me because of it.

To Live is Christ — without a headset

Contrite is an interesting word. The Oxford dictionary says it means to feel or express remorse. The Hebrew word used is dakah, and literally means “bruised.” This word is sometimes translated “humbled” or used with that word to convey the idea of a person who not only knows they are sinful, but feel great humility and remorse because of it. Like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, they are head bowed and contrite.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — these, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:16–17)

Several other verses use the same word. All of them show that God is pleased with humble contrition.

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15)

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

In his well-known book, Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis stresses spiritual disciplines as vital toward a life that is like that of Jesus Christ. The author says about the discipline of solitude:

No man deserves the consolation of heaven unless he persistently arouses himself to holy contrition. If you desire true sorrow of heart, seek the privacy of your cell (referring to the room of a monk, but also any space where I can be alone) and shut out the uproar of the world, as it is written: “In your chamber bewail your sins.” There you will find what too often you lose abroad.

Earlier, the author of this classic book says that being with people and in the world drains our spirituality. We need to spend time alone with God to regain our sense of His will. In that solitude, we can open ourselves to His Spirit and allow Him to produce in us a true remorse for sin. This must lead to confession and repentance, and then, true to His promises, He cleanses us from that sin and changes our lives.

I know this is true. Over and over, I find my attitude reworked as God gets me alone and works in my heart. In the solitude of my home or on a long walk, He does not have to yell at me, as if He would anyway. He wants me to put myself in a place where I am better able to hear Him.

For that reason, I seldom have any background noise happening. If I picture Jesus coming to this world, I can see Him enjoying some of our conveniences, but when it comes time to tune into God, I cannot imagine Him praying with an earpiece attached to His head!

For that reason, my radio and television are usually turned off. I don’t own an I-pod and my cell phone is off too. These absences don’t make me contrite, but their presence would easily distract me. How can I hear His still small voice with other voices loud and blaring?

I know that His words will bruise. That is okay. It is not self-flagellation but a desire to be holy. I know that being first broken by the Word of God always leads me closer to Him and to a more Christ-honoring life.