Content and quiet like a newborn
by Sarah Wooten Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
The Lord has generously blessed my family this past week. My sister and her husband welcomed their second little girl into this world. Both mom and baby are doing well, and big sister is absolutely in love.
When a baby is born, the sounds of a house change.
Everyone used to speak at full volume, but now everyone whispers.
Where there used to be tickle fights with the toddler all throughout the day, now those laughs are well-timed to not scare or wake the baby. And certainly, there’s a little cry that rings out at least once every other hour.
To our great joy, the sounds of the home reflect the gift that God has given.
In Psalm 131, God uses the disposition of a baby to teach us a great lesson about our souls.
He shows us what the sound of our hearts should be like in response to the great gift of knowing Him.
The Psalmist writes, “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me,” (131:1-2, ESV).
The picture is quite stark. The soul, the mind, the inner being of a person who trusts in the Lord, is to be like my newborn niece who has a dry diaper and a full belly as she sleeps in the arms of her mother.
The toddler may be creating chaos around her, but the baby is perfectly content and peacefully resting in the love of her mother. God says that this is how our souls should be as we trust in Him.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the experience of many Christians.
Instead, we are the very things that verse one says we shouldn’t be.
Instead of a calm and quiet soul, we find ourselves swimming in chaotic waters because our minds are fixed on things that are too great for us – like what’s going to happen in the future or how to fix a problem that is out of our control.
We don’t understand why God would allow things to happen and spend way too much time trying to figure out or manipulate His plans.
Of course, our pridefulness is the root of many of these issues by thinking we can solve all the problems or believing the world revolves around us and our desires.
All too often, we find that our eyes focus on ourselves rather than on trusting in the Lord.
As we reflect on these two pictures – the baby quietly content with her mother and the person swimming in chaotic waters – it’s a no brainer which one a Christian would rather be. But the question is how.
How do we become a person who quietly and contentedly trusts in the Lord instead of letting chaos ensue our souls?
That could be an entire newspaper series in and of itself, but the Psalmist did sum it up for us in one word: hope.
He writes, “O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore” (131:3, ESV).
The calm and quiet soul hopes in the Lord.
God’s riches towards those of us in Christ are endless. His promises are sure. His character towards His children is loving, patient, and kind.
Not once has He ever given us a reason to not quietly trust in His ways.
Yet the truth remains. Many of us choose to live in the chaos instead of in the peace that is graciously offered to us.
I know I too often live in inner chaos.
But as I look at my niece, I am reminded that the preciousness and sweetness I am witnessing in her quiet trust is also offered to all of us–in an even greater supply–if we would simply hope and trust in the Lord in all circumstances in life.
