Society encourages us to be busy all the time, so the quiet seasons of life can feel more difficult than the busy seasons. But in the Kingdom of God, quiet seasons are often the most productive. The quiet season is a time when we can step away from all the noise around us and hear God’s voice more clearly. Enjoying quiet seasons allows you to experience God’s love for you, not because you have accomplished anything for Him, but simply because you are one of His beloved children. Let’s look at seven ways you can grow spiritually during quiet seasons.
1. Embrace overdoing: In John 15:4-5, Jesus encourages us to focus on our connection to Him in our relationships, rather than what we are doing at the moment. “Abide in Me, as I abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Unless you abide in Me, ye also cannot bear fruit.” The branch is not trying to grow vines. There is no burden or stress in any way. It just stays attached to the vine. The life of the vine flows into the branches and naturally bears fruit. In quiet seasons, God teaches you how to “abide” in your relationship with Him. He shows you that your worth is not based on how much you can do, but on your connection to him. So when you feel the urge to try harder to prove your worth to God and others, stop and remember that you are the branches and God is the vine. Remember that your only job today is to stay connected to God through trust and love. If you stay close to him without doing anything else, you can say that you had a successful day. This growth is most important because it changes your identity. You stop trying to earn God’s love and just start enjoying the love of a Heavenly Father who loves you completely and unconditionally.
2. Re-learn the art of rest: During quieter seasons, your schedule will be more flexible than usual. You may want to fill that space with new tasks. But Jesus invites you to rest. Matthew 11:28-30 says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and take it upon yourself, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my load is light.” Jesus modeled the importance of regular rest in his earthly life. In these verses, he refers to a “yoke” as a tool for the work, but promises that his yoke will be easy. Jesus teaches us that even when we do work, we can do it from a place of rest, not from a place of panic. You can use this quiet time to truly rest. Put away your phone and go for a walk or sit in a chair and enjoy communicating with God. Ask God to show you where you were carrying burdens that He never intended for you to carry. As you learn to rest in God’s presence, you will find that you begin to recharge spiritually in ways you never could during the busy season. Your faith and trust in God will be strengthened by knowing that He will meet all your needs even when you are not working.
3. Strengthen your habits of prayer and meditation: Jesus made communication with his Heavenly Father a top priority during his earthly life, and his example shows that prayer and meditation should be at the center of each day. Luke 5:16 points out: “But Jesus often retired to secluded places to pray.” This passage shows that prayer was an important part of Jesus’ lifestyle. Prayer is talking to God, meditation is listening to God’s voice. Psalm 19:14 points out the importance of both prayer and meditation. “O Lord, my Rock and Savior, let these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight.” The quiet season offers a rare opportunity to enjoy and begin a habit of prayer and meditation. As you do so, you will begin to see that communicating with God is an opportunity, not an obligation. You will enjoy communion with God and then be able to communicate with Him in a more relational way (building a closer relationship with God) rather than just a transactional way (asking God for something). Try different methods of prayer and meditation until you find the one that works best for you. By strengthening your communication with God now, you will build a strong relationship with Him that will sustain you when life gets busy again.
4. Enjoy reading God’s message to you in the Bible. When you’re busy, you can simply read the Bible, pick a quick verse for a little encouragement, and move on. But during the quiet season, you have the opportunity to spend more time reading God’s message to you in the Bible. psalm 1:1-3 points out: “Blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which in its season brings forth fruit and leaves. ” At the beginning of the next quiet season, choose a short book of the Bible and commit to being there for it as your schedule becomes less busy. Rather than rushing through a chapter, read just a few verses of this book and ask yourself reflective questions, such as, “What does this tell me about the character of God?” “How does this change the way I see myself?” Pay close attention to God’s message to you through what you read. Consider writing down your thoughts in a journal. Slowing down when reading allows God’s message to sink into your soul. That way, the Word of God given to you will remain in your heart and be available later when you need it.
5. Seek God through silence and solitude: Quiet seasons can be uncomfortable because we often have to wait quietly for what we want to happen. Lamentations 3:25-26 reminds us that there is a kind of goodness that can be experienced when we wait quietly: “The Lord is good to those who hope in Him, to those who seek Him. It is good to wait quietly for His salvation.” When you stop talking and stop listening to the noise around you in this fallen world, you create space where you can actually hear what God is saying to you. So make it a priority to seek God through silence and solitude. Try to spend 5 to 10 minutes each day in complete silence, without any music, conversation, or notifications from your device. Just sit somewhere comfortable and focus on listening to the messages God brings to your heart. At first, your mind may be distracted by chores, errands, and other things that need to be done. That’s fine. Gently return your focus to God. This exercise trains you to recognize the “gentle whisper” of God’s voice (1 Kings 19:11-13). Over time, you will find that you can maintain inner calm even when life becomes noisy again. The more you practice hearing God’s voice in silence and solitude, the easier it will be to recognize God speaking to you in every situation.
6. Find the wonder of God’s extraordinary work in our daily lives: Quiet seasons can often feel so ordinary that we can lose inspiration if we don’t make the effort to explore the wonder of God’s work in our daily lives. Just because you haven’t had a particularly dramatic experience doesn’t mean God isn’t working around you. Psalm 65:8 tells God, “The whole earth is filled with awe of your wonders. You stir up songs of joy wherever the dawn breaks and the evening falls,” pointing out that God’s amazing works are everywhere. In quiet seasons, we can grow by learning that there is no such thing as worldly experience. Because God is always doing divine things in your life. So choose some boring tasks that you have to do every day and pray as you do them. As you wash the dishes, you can thank God for the food he has provided. As you drive to work, you can pray for the people in the cars around you. When you go about your ordinary tasks prayerfully, you can begin to become more aware of how God is with you, not only in the dramatic blessings He gives you, but also in the mundane details of life. You can grow spiritually by discovering God’s extraordinary work even in the quiet, ordinary days.
7. Let the Holy Spirit change your heart. The Bible often compares the human heart to a garden. Song of Solomon 4:16 is a prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to breathe into someone’s heart to bring about positive change. “North wind, come, come, south wind! Blow into my garden, so that its fragrance may spread everywhere.” Gardens require regular, quiet maintenance such as watering, weeding, and pruning. When we think of our hearts like gardens, we see the importance of using quiet seasons to do tasks like weeding (weeding out sinful and unhealthy attitudes and behaviors with the help of the Holy Spirit) and watering (spending more time practicing practices that renew us spiritually). Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in specific types of spiritual gardening work to do in your heart and help you do it in quiet seasons. Are there any old grudges left? Are there habits that are separating you from God? Work with the Holy Spirit to remove them. Would you like to schedule more time to read the Bible, pray, meditate, spread kindness, or do something spiritually renewing? Take time to nourish your soul spiritually.
In conclusion, as you go through this quiet season, remember that it gives you a unique opportunity to grow spiritually. So make the most of the time and space you have and focus more on drawing closer to God. God loves you and will help you grow in ways that will last forever.
Photo credit: ©GettyImage/Daniela Jovanovska-Hristovska
Whitney Hopler helps people discover the wonders of God and experience awe. She is the author of several books, including the nonfiction books Wake Up to Wonder and Wonder Through the Year: A Daily Devotional for Every Year, and the young adult novel Dream Factory. Whitney has served as an editor at major media organizations including Crosswalk.com, the national publication of the Salvation Army USA, and Dotdash.com (producing the popular Angels and Miracles channel). She currently leads communications operations at George Mason University’s Center for Human Services Advancement. Connect with Whitney on her website www.whitneyhopler.com and on her Facebook author page.
