The Quiet Place

Living in the midst of pandemic is hard.  Tonight the Lord led me to read about Noah. And it made me think so much. Yes, a pandemic is difficult to live through, but imagine being Noah! He was THE only man on the earth that found favor with God. Imagine how hard it was for him to stay encouraged and not give up and give in to the ways of his culture and surrounding world. Imagine how difficult it was for him to remain obedient in the face of such backlash! I often picture Noah being called crazy and being cruelly mocked for his ways, especially when building the ark. I couldn’t imagine going through that! It would be SO difficult!  Then, even after all of that, he finds himself in a situation so grieve - worthy. Living on an ark in a ridiculously long storm, with imaginably smelly animals, while knowing everyone (minus his wife and children and their wives (praise God!)) he’s ever prayed for, hoped for, loved, was being washed away in judgement. What a great sad silence it mus...

This is a good time of year to re-evaluate, to step back for a moment and look at how our relationship with God is and what we can do to grow closer to him. Though the blog has been quite, I have been learning and growing a lot these past few months. So today I would like to share with you some of the most important things I have taken away from church sermons, bible studies, and Holy Spirit reminders.  Recently my pastor spoke on Intimacy with God. He described Intimacy with God to be like a newly married couple driving in an old car. The Husband driving and the wife sitting as close to him as she can. Then one day when they are old, the wife asks her Husband why he is sitting so far away from her. Looking over from the Driver's seat he responds, what do you mean? I never moved. The lesson being that if we are from from God it is because we have moved away from him, not him from us.   We can draw near to God by maintaining Keystone habits. Keyston...

Image via unsplash.com "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:13-15 The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is just." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands." 2 Chronicles 12:6-8 I did...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Sophia, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme repentance. You can find out more about Sophia on are about page.  I feel there is a common misunderstanding when it comes to Christians and repentance.  This is a lesson that I have come to learn myself.  As Christians we know that when we sin we can all rely on the blood of Jesus to redeem us.  That is Christianity 101, but so many of us fail to understand the idea of true repentance.  I can recall getting into an argument with a family member.  The argument stemmed the idea of sin and repentance.  My family member felt that because we are all human and we are going to sin, then it is pretty much okay with God that we sin.  She also said that as long as we ask for forgiveness our sin is okay, even if we continue to do the sin time and time again.  Well I have come to beg a differ.  I also think that God w...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Victoria, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Repentance. You can learn more about Victoria and her blog on the about page.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Ephesians 1:7-10 In this fallen world, the thing that we humans need more than anything else is forgiveness. First, we need our relationship with our Creator to be made right. As we go through life, we come into contact with people that need our forgiveness and of whom we need to ask forgiveness as well. With that in mind, I can’t help but wonder why forgiveness is taboo. I have a feeling it has somet...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Courtney, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Repentance. You can learn more about Courtney on are about page.  Have you ever felt consumed by guilt? Is the weight of your sin pressing against you? You feel like you can't escape it. You feel like everywhere you turn you are confronted with your sin. Have you ever felt like there was a brick wall between you and the Lord? You pray, but you just do not feel close to the Lord. You cry out, but there seems to be no answer. I have been there. I have been crushed by the weight of my sin. I have cried out to the Lord, but felt no answer. I have turned to Scripture and asked, "Why?!" What is happening? Often, I am in this place because I have not repented. Acts 3:19 says, "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." The Lord gr...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Buife, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Repentance. You can learn more about Buife on are about page! Omo, Na Wetin You Carry? Ha! Yes, I had to use some pidgin English today. I'm from Nigeria where even the most learned ones (Queens English-wise) among us make a statement in pidgin at least once a day (the statistics? You have to come down here to see hear it for yourself *smiles*) When I got the mail letting us know what september's theme will be, I was so pumped! I'm studying the book of Jonah with the beautiful ladies at www.hellomornings.com so it's natural that I would want to center my post around Jonah. But, you know God, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. In the new testament, we have this friend who was so passionate about seeing people repent other than Jesus. His name was John the Baptist. But more than seeing people troop in their numbers to hi...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we one of are monthly contributors Beka, she is sharing her heart on this month's theme Repentance. You can find out more about Beka on are about page. I have been slowly working my way through Romans...and when I say slowly, I mean s l o w l y. I copy out a few verses a day, meditate on them, and study them. I've noticed that when I take my time with Scripture, certain passages jump out to me like never before.  About halfway through chapter one of Paul's letter to the Romans, we find this statement in verse eighteen: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” The rest of the chapter turns into a giant body-slam of accusations against the wickedness of man, shining light on all those dark places where the men actually delight in their own unrighteousness and filth. “They were filled with all manner of envy, murder, unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, strife, de...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have one of our monthly contributors Meg, she is sharing her heart on this months theme: Repentance. You can find more about her and her blog on our About Page! Repentance.  Strong word. Strong meaning. What is repentance?  The dictionary says it’s a noun, a word meaning deep regret for past actions and wrongdoing. The Bible takes it further though, saying that repentance IS expressing sorrow, but ALSO changing one’s mind and heart, and in doing so, change will come about. (Luke 3: 8-14; Acts 3:19; Acts 26:20). I believe repentance is not a “one and done” thing.  I think that as sinners, even though we are striving to be more like Jesus every day and turn away from our sins, the reality is we aren’t capable of doing that completely.   We have been forgiven  for past and future transgressions, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do them. It’s like a kid and a parent.  All we want the ki...

This months theme here on the Quiet Place is repentance. When I thought about this months theme I found the verse above and was reminded that our sins are continually swept clean each and every day.  In this I find comfort, in the days where I feel like don't get enough done, or I am just worn out I am reminded of his grace in my life. When I think of repentance in my life I am reminded of all of the times that I have said "why" to God in whatever season I am in. Weather it be a season of waiting, or a season of struggle. It's always a reminder to see beauty in the struggle and the fact that no matter what God always gives me a clean slate.  Especially in those times when I wonder why I am still in this season of singleness, I stop and remember that there is beauty and purpose in this season that I'm in. There's also repentance,  and I am reminded that His mercies are new each morning, despite what I may be feeling. So sisters, every time we run fro...

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have are monthly contributor Kiki! She is sharing her heart on this month's theme Repentance. You can learn more about Kiki and her blog on are about page. I was making whipped cream the other night and somehow it just didn't turn out right. I likely over-whipped it (kitchen fail!), but in the heat of the moment, I so badly wanted to blame it on a bad carton of whipping cream. That feeling of failure quickly went from feeling sad to feeling annoyed and then mad. And mad at an empty carton and soupy whipped cream in a bowl, to be exact. I was mad that I didn't get things right and that I couldn't make it like everyone else (aka the internet). And it made me mad that I wasted that entire carton, too. I looked at that soupy whipping cream and well, wanted to whip it until it made butter. But in that moment of madness, I realized that I could either let it dwell and fester in me (and likely hurt something/someone else u...

Happy September Friends! Today I am writing to inform you that this month's theme is... This month we will be focusing on what Repentance is and what is means. So get ready for some great scripture passages and awesome posts from are contributors!  If you'd like to find out more about are current writers, check out the "About" page. Also, if you're interested in becoming a monthly contributor for The Quiet Place send an e-mail to hillary.thequietplace@gmail.com If you haven't signed up for are newsletter yet you can do that via the "Newsletter" tab. This is are first month sending it out and we'd love to have you join us in this new journey! Lastly, if you have ever written a post for us we'd love for you to stop by and take are 6 question survey . Your answers will help us to improve your experience as a writer for The Quiet Place. We have already received some great feedback and look forward to making some great chan...