A Quiet Life...

that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you—1 Thessalonians 4:11

I have always been attracted to the picture this verse paints.   I want to be the one who leads a quiet life, who minds her own business and works with her hands.  1 Peter 3:4 is similar...it tells us to “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.”  I want that too!  Spending time minding other people’s business and/or attempting to make me look good on the outside takes a lot of my energy and causes disquietude not only in my heart but usually in the hearts of others, also.  It uses energy that could be better spent more aspiring to lead a quiet life.  Energy that could be spent working with my hands to aid the smooth running of my household.  Energy that could be spent helping provide for the needs of others. Energy that could be spent focusing on those things that are above that bring stability and peace...that enable me to be the one whose soul rests easy even in the midst of difficulty.  My life is quiet...free from external disturbances...because I am minding my own business.  My life is peaceful...free from internal disturbances...because my has been spent staying focused on Him.  

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.  And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,—2 Corinthians 3:2-5