DAY 30

Q U I E T

LAUREN GRACA, KIDS PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

Detroit Lions fans will like this.

On September 15th, 2024 the Detroit Lions hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and my youngest son and I were invited by our friends to go to the game! This was the first Lions game for both of us, and we were beyond excited. Not only did we have amazing seats (seven rows up from the field), but everyone was anticipating the Lions to have a very successful season! Just the energy alone from the parking structure to Ford Field was stronger than anything I’d felt before at a sporting event; it was nothing less than electric. Every one of my senses was heightened as I took it all in. And the game hadn’t even started yet!

I expected this hyped atmosphere to some level, but what I did not expect still amazes me to this day. What surprised me most about that whole experience were when the stadium grew loud, and when it fell silent. I was not expecting such a dramatic change in decibels; I was expecting the fans to be loud - and to stay loud the entire time! But that is not the case at Ford Field, and Lions fans pride themselves on their ability to get REALLY loud, then go silent. 

At the start of the game, the Lions’ defense was on the field. Everyone in the stadium was standing and screaming as loud as they could. “Loud Environment” alerts were going off on my Apple watch. After a few minutes of constant screaming, my body literally began to feel tired. I wasn’t sure how long I could stand the noise. Then suddenly, on the projector screen, giant letters appear: Q U I E T.

Immediately, the crowd sat down and everyone was quiet. I get chills even now when I think about it. Ford Field can hold 65,000 people, and in a few seconds, no one made any noise. It can take me over 20 seconds to quiet a room of 60 elementary students, but it took less than 10 seconds to quiet the whole stadium! The game wasn’t over; it wasn’t half time yet, so why did everyone go quiet? The crowd went silent because the Lions’ offense now had the ball. Jared Goff needed to communicate with his teammates.

I was so puzzled. Why wouldn’t we shout now, when our quarterback is making plays? Why would we only scream with everything we have only when the defense is out there? Knowing that I know nothing about the game of football, my friend gently taught me that the crowd goes loud to throw off the enemy. The crowd screams so that the team we are opposing can’t communicate or think clearly. We shout to shut the enemy down. When it’s our turn to have the ball, we get quiet so our offense can communicate their strategy in order to score touchdowns. 

A few days later I was taking my scheduled prayer day. I started reading the book of Joshua during my study time, and I was up to the start of chapter six, The Fall of Jericho. Joshua and his warriors were commanded by God to take the city of Jericho. But how they took the city was very unusual. Once a day for six days Joshua and his armed men, along with priests and men carrying the Ark of the Covenant, traveled around the city of Jericho. The priests blew in rams horns but Joshua had instructed his men,

“Do not shout; do not even talk,” Joshua commanded. “Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout. Then shout!”Joshua 6:10

On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town!”Joshua 6:15–16

That day Jericho fell and Joshua and his men occupied the city. Attending Sunday School as a child, this is a story I have known for most of my life. But what the Holy Spirit taught me on this particular day was to pay attention to when Joshua and his men shouted, and when they were quiet. 

There are times in our prayer life when we should be loud, when we are welcome to shout, praise, sing, weep, and get noisy. The Lord desires to hear from us and “bends down to listen” (Psalm 116:2). We are invited to be so loud that the worship and prayers we pray can even throw off the enemy.

But just like Joshua and his men circling the wall, I believe there are times when the Lord wants us Q U I E T. When our hearts settle and we wait in absolute silence. When we are quiet to hear from the Lord, He speaks. Jesus will never shout louder than the traffic to get our attention, so we must quiet our hearts and minds to listen to what He has to say.

Maybe the majority of our prayer life should be spent in quiet? What if, like Joshua and his men, we spent six days in quiet prayer, then during the seventh day we unleashed our shouts of praise? Like the city walls that just fell down, imagine what God could do!

When was the last time your prayer time was spent in Q U I E T? When was the last time you shouted songs of praise or thanksgiving? There are times to shout and there are times to be quiet… what are you sensing the Lord saying to you today? If you haven’t been quiet in a while, perhaps this is the day for you to pause and quiet yourself, and simply listen. If you haven’t shouted praises to the Lord recently, this devotional entry is giving you permission to get loud! The Lord wants to hear from you!

PRAYER PROMPT FOR SHOUTING PRAISES: God, I praise You for your faithfulness. Your unlimited love, compassion, and goodness overwhelms me. There is nothing and no one who compares to You. Thank You for always being with me; for never leaving me alone. You are always here. Whenever I need You I can draw close to You. You delight in me. Help me to see You, to recognize You, to hear Your voice. Help me in my times of unbelief. You know the situation I am in that is causing me _______. The enemy is trying to use it as a foothold to distract me, but I will fight him off with my shouts of praise to You. You are stronger than the enemy; no one is as great as You. You defeat the enemy in one breath, and in the same breath You breathed life into me. Do it again, O God, open my eyes to even more to who You are, and lead me to life everlasting.