In the Quiet of the Day: Daily Reflections for Lasting Peace

By Abingdon

Are you overwhelmed with pressures from family, friends, career, and daily routines? In the Quiet of the Day offers quiet times amidst the chaos we call life. The devotionals include scripture and reflection affirming your value as a woman. And so reassured in your identity—accepted and loved by God just as you are—you can confidently rise above the endless pressures of daily life with an attitude of joy and peace as you continue growing spiritually.

This beautiful book is a padded hardcover with a ribbon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Apr 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781501881107

Book preview

It’s Noisy out There!

Now my head is higher than the enemies surrounding me . . . Lord, listen to my voice when I cry out!

—Psalm 27:6-7

Do you ever find yourself trying to calm the noise from the outside world, getting your head above the crowd so you can hear yourself think? This may not be exactly what David was thinking about here in this Psalm, but it’s always good to step back and step aside when you can so you can get a broader perspective. We often just need time to think our own thoughts.

Goethe said it this way: All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience. We may not be trying to reinvent the wheel or come up with a cure for cancer, but we still need some quiet moments to withdraw from the crowds and hear not only our own voice, but God’s voice. It’s difficult for him to reach us when our thoughts are crowded out by all that goes on around us. As you go about your business today, take a few moments to be silent somewhere. Then give God thanks for all that he has to share with you.

Accept his gift of peace.

IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY

Lord, sometimes I go for days without a break, doing everything that needs to get done, running faster than my feet can keep up, and certainly faster than my thoughts can take root. Be with me and help me find the quiet time to hear your voice. Amen.

He Will Lift You Higher

My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans. Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and don’t return there without watering the earth, making it conceive and yield plants and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater, so is my word that comes from my mouth; it does not return to me empty.

—Isaiah 55:8-11

Some people are planners. They like to map out every step they’ll take on a given day. Other people are just the opposite. They run with the wind here and there. They somehow still manage to get along on their intended course.

The tricky part of the planning process is that God is also planning, and he’s been planning your steps since the day you took your first breath. You were designed for a certain mission, a purpose that only you and he will actually ever know. So, the problem with planning is that it requires more than an action based on what you want. It requires you to listen for the voice of the One who speaks to you often and creates the best opportunity for his plans to come to fruition.

Step out in faith and leave the planning to God.

God knows why he made you. He planned for you to have an abundant life, filled with joy, enriched by his guidance through the Word. Step out in faith and leave the planning to God.

IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY

Lord, I always make lists of things I need to do. I hope that you help me create those lists, but I also ask that you would help me create the priorities. I want to work with you every day. Amen.

When You Sign Up With God

I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our LORD: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.

—Romans 8:38-39

The good news about planting your feet squarely in God’s territory is that once you do, unless you put in a big request to be removed from the space, you are connected to him for all eternity. You’re his child, and you get the benefits of a relationship that’s like no other.

In fact, Paul says with great certainty that nothing can separate you from the love of God. Those are big words. Those are words to hold on to because they affect you today and tomorrow and always. You are part of God’s family, in his will for the rest of eternity. You inherit all that he has for you.

When you discovered the faith in your heart, the faith that desires to walk with Jesus, the faith that is tutored by the Holy Spirit and led by the God of the universe, you signed up forever. Not only that, but God signed up forever with you. It was a mutual agreement.

Recognize the forever inheritance that comes from your relationship with God.

Today, tomorrow, and always, remember that you are never far from the love of the One who bought you at a great price.

IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY

Lord, thank you for being with me, not just today, but always. Thank you for loving me even more than I really understand. Amen.

A Matter of Contentment

I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.

—Philippians 4:12-13

How often do you find yourself feeling fully content? You send your children off with love, do your work in peace, and take what comes with calmness and ease. It’s a wonderful place to be in.

Sadly, it’s a difficult place for most of us to achieve. We stay out on the skinny branches all alone wondering if we can survive or if wolves will come and tear us apart. We’re always slightly on edge.

Paul reminds us that we don’t have to be. He says that he doesn’t let what is going on outside affect what is happening to him on the inside. He’s free to find the good in every opportunity. He’s able to see that he is not alone. He sets his focus on Jesus and accepts the strength that he then receives.

As you look out at the world today, remember, you have the option of giving your day over to the One who can provide the strength to sustain you and bring you contentment.

Trust and lean on the strength of Jesus to be fully content.

IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY

Lord, strengthen my steps today as I look to you. Help me trust and to lean on you for all that I am. Help me breathe in the peace that only you can give. Amen.

The Child within You

People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would bless them. But the disciples scolded them. When Jesus saw this, he grew angry and said to them, Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children.

—Mark 10:13-14

You probably know people who are seriously adult. They carry their grown-up-ness around like it’s a badge of honor. They’ve got weighty matters on their minds all the time and they’ve somehow forgotten to smile, to ease up on themselves and others, and simply to play.

When was the last time you gave yourself a play date? When was the last time you let the kid in you have fun and laugh for almost no reason, or hope in something that just seems crazy ridiculous to the adult mind? Remember the kid who hoped for a pony?

Make it a point today to look for those people who smile for no apparent reason. Discover those who befriend you in an instant because they simply trust in the good will and the good nature of others. Notice how freely they allow the love within them to flow and how quickly others respond to even their smallest gestures. It’s childlike faith. The kingdom of heaven is made for people like that.

Like a kid, laugh and smile at the little things you find throughout the day.

IN THE QUIET OF THE DAY

Lord, help me reconnect with the child within me. Help me notice the little things that bring such joy to every day. I thank you for loving me so much. Amen.

Simply No Comparison

Each person should test their own work and be happy with doing a good job and not compare themselves with others.

—Galatians 6:4

From your first day at school, you