Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength… Isaiah 30:15

The Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock tells about a fellow who “flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.” Do not try to spend too much time trying to figure that one out. Just try to get the picture. Life tends to go in all directions, and you find yourself right in the middle, torn between a multitude of interests that demand your time and energies. Shall I turn here or there? As I read Leacock’s words I could not help thinking of the jet pilot who was flying so fast that he actually shot himself down. The navy pilot was in training and flying faster than the speed of sound. The pilot discharged his cannon and then banked his plane in maneuvers. In a moment, he caught the full burst of his fire in the tail as he actually had flown into the path of his own cannon fire.

Talk to any doctor and he will tell you that more than a few people do the same thing with their lives. Torn between a multitude of responsibilities and activities each of which is absolutely important and necessary—so we think‑‑a person ultimately finds his body or emotions burned out like a cinder. He is worn out emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Like the jet pilot, we end up shooting ourselves out of the sky.

I sometimes wonder, with all of the benefits of modern living, just how far we have actually advanced in the path of real progress. We have failed some of the simple lessons of life and living, lessons that the ancients had thoroughly mastered. High marks in science and technology, low marks in living. Successful, yet we fail in the things that really count.

I will never forget the first time that I disembarked from a jet in Tel Aviv and boarded a bus as it made its way down the coastal plains of ancient Philistia. From Gaza the road led through the desert towards the ancient city of Beersheba. As we moved through the desert on a narrow ribbon of pavement, civilization rapidly fell behind. Instead of skyscrapers, black goatskin tents inhabited by nomadic Bedouins were silhouetted against the sky. As the sun began to sink in the sky, I watched Bedouins, dressed in their traditional garbs, herd their sheep across the barren wastes as men have done for centuries.

Visit the city of Beersheba in the Negev and you will see the Bedouins bring their camels to the market and haggle over produce and livestock just as their forefathers have done for centuries. With all of our speed, we have failed to experience the great strength of learning to wait and be quiet. We have forgotten the words penned in Scripture centuries ago: “…In quietness and trust is your strength…” (Isaiah 30:15). With noise measured in decibels, it is hard to hear the still voice of God as He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10). In learning to wait quietly we can hear the voice of God saying, “This is the way; walk in it…” (Isaiah 30:21).

Guidelines in a modern world are found in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote, “The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26 KJV). The next time you find yourself in the position of the man Stephen Leacock told about‑‑ready to fling yourself on your horse and ride off madly in all directions‑‑take the upward look, for those who wait upon the Lord will run and not be weary and walk and not faint.

Resource reading: Isaiah 40:25-31.