May 22 / Springs in the Valley by L.B. Cowman

May 22

He giveth quietness. (Job 34:29)

The calm sea says more to the thoughtful soul than the same sea in a storm and tumult. But we need the understanding of eternal things, and the sentiment of the Infinite to be able to feel this. Napoleon, with his arms crossed over his breast, is more expressive than the furious Hercules beating the air with his athletic fists. People of passionate temperament never understand this. AMIEL’S JOURNEY

The lovely things are quiet things 

Soft falling snow, 

And feathers dropped from flying wings 

Make no sound as they go. 

A petal loosened from a rose, 

Quietly seeks the ground, 

And love, if lovely, when it goes, 

Goes without sound. 

The silent seasons of life are imperative. The winter is the mother of spring; the night is the fountain of the physical forces of the day; the silent soil is the womb where vegetable life is born. The greatest things in our spiritual life come out of our waiting hours, when all activity is suspended and the soul learns to be “silent unto God” while He shapes and molds us for future activities and fruitful years.

The greatest forces in nature are quiet ones. The law of gravitation is silent, yet invincible. So, back of all our activities and actions the law of faith is the mightiest force of the spiritual world, and mightiest when quietest and least demonstrative. When the soul is anchored to the will of God and His exceeding great and precious promises, with the calm unwavering confidence that His power and love are behind us and can never fail us until all His will for us is accomplished, our life must be victorious.

In the center of the whirlpool, 

while the waters rush around, 

There’s a space of perfect stillness, 

though with turmoil it is bound: 

All is calm, and all is quiet, 

scarcely e’en a sense of sound. 

So with us—despite the conflict—

when in Christ His Peace is found. 

There is no other real peace; how comparatively few know the secret.

God’s noiseless workers own His calm control.
NORA C. USHER

We need not be noisy if we are sure.
MARY E. SHANNON

Cowman, L. B. E.. Springs in the Valley (pp. 156-157). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.