Cultivating Quiet: Get Your Gospel On (Armor Up!)
Cultivating quiet is about leaning into God’s still, small voice.
It’s about fixing our eyes on Jesus when the messes of life vie for our attention.
This journey consists of clinging to the truth of God when lies start closing in on us.
And while varying circumstances highlight the need to focus our hearts and minds on Gospel truth, Jesus remains the central Savior to it all. What circumstances have led you to realize your need for quiet? Is it external storms or internal chaos? Do any of these instances below resonate with you?
The One Called to Risk or Obey: Sometimes, we feel like Peter, stepping out onto the water— eager to overcome our fears and walk in obedience, but wearied by the storms around us. Peter found stability when his eyes were fixed on Jesus, and Jesus came through for him when his faith fell short.
The One Seeking Help, in Need of Healing: Other times, we may relate to the woman we read about in Mark 5:25-34. She was desperate for help and healing. She knew getting to Jesus would require some effort, but her faith drove her forward towards him, despite the crowd pressing all around her. And she found healing.
The One Tormented and Desperate: And at times, we feel completely crippled. Freedom from torment, noise, or pain feels far off. But the mercy of Jesus is never too far off. At times, we are desperate for him, like the demon-possessed man from Mark 5:1-20, hurting beyond belief—absolutely tormented—and Jesus comes to us and sets us free, so that we can walk forth sober-mindedly and refreshed.
Regardless of which story resonates with you about turning to Jesus for your help, hope, refreshment, and freedom, these things remain true:
Jesus is the critical strength and salvation we need, to be saved from the noise, chaos, and torment that surround us.
This fight for quiet is won by the strength of the Lord. In this writing, we’ll discuss just how to cover ourselves with His strength.
But first, let’s enjoy the pleasant reminder of exactly what the quiet holds for us.
A Quiet Worth Fighting For
As we learn to move past and break down the ungodly noise in our life, we have the opportunity to rest in the gracious reality which remains: the truth of the Gospel. It’s the most beautiful truth in the entire world—a God who loves us, a savior who gave up his life for us, a total conquering of death and evil, eternal life forever.
We aren’t cultivating quiet for the sake of soaking in nothingness! What we are working towards is a flourishing place, in which we have weeded out the untruths—turned down the noise of unreality—so that the beautiful song of Life with God can ring sweetly in our ears.
We are stepping back into the Garden per se, by the atoning work of our Savior. We are stripping back lies and choosing abundant life. We are moving towards Jesus, despite our circumstances.
And to get there, we are armoring ourselves up with the strength of God—so that we can face any battle. And the ground we are claiming in this war—the ground that is rightfully ours in Christ—is the sweet promised land of His peace, joy, and goodness.
Going to Battle
So then, cultivating a quiet heart involves taking up battle against the ungodly noises that plague us.
These noises come in the form of lies, fears, accusations, and then some. But we aren’t abandoned in the battle. God goes with us. Jesus has gone before us. The Spirit is within us. (Psalm 16:8, John 1:14, Hebrews 4:15, 2 Timothy 1:14)
We are in a battle to make our minds, bodies, and souls Kingdom places, as we take all the messages we encounter, and make them subject to the Lord’s Kingship. This is how we fight in his army.
This is an end the church works toward, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We have a real enemy who shouts real lies, and while we make it our mission to embrace lives of faith and true knowledge, the mission of our enemy is to distort reality in an attempt to corrupt our lives and weaken our faiths.
So much of the noise we hear are the truths and lies battling within us, but we have been given every tool to conquer this noise. These tools just don’t always look like what we might expect…
A Meek and Humble Soldier
Just as we see Jesus, in Philippians 2:1-11, walk in meekness and humility—and in the end, become resurrected over every evil power at work—so we follow in his footsteps. Our battle is won through meekness and humility. The world considers this upside-down, but we know it to be God’s wisdom. We lay our own lives down and embrace the life of Jesus, living a life sold out for the sake of God’s call and purposes in our lives, and in full dependence on his salvation.
And just as we saw Jesus venture into the desert and face the lies of the devil head-on through forty days of temptation—and overcome by battling with truth—so we know that having a firm understanding of the truth, and walking in that truth, will be our guard against temptation. (Matthew 4:1-11)
The Gospel is the truth that saves us. The truth we cling to. Jesus said that all who feel weary and burdened are to come to him. He will give us rest for our souls. He will be the means to our quiet. (Matthew 11:28-30)
It’s the most counter-intuitive battle plan in the world: our victory is found in our rest.
Our war is won by our surrender.
We don’t stop fighting for faith; we simply hold fast in big faith that the big fight has already been won.
The enemy is attacking on borrowed time. Jesus has already gained the victory. As we persevere in faith and resist the conquered enemy, may our minds become more fortified, unshakeable, quiet, and guarded in the Lord.
As we step into this next piece from Ephesians about covering ourselves in the Armor of God, may we be keen to remember that it is the Lord’s strength we are covered with. This isn’t about being strong in our own right—it’s about remembering the Lord’s strength surrounding us and working within us; it’s his strength that conquers enemies.
The Full Armor of God
To experience victory, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus—fully identifying with him, the winner of the war. Putting on the armor of God is like clothing yourself with the identity of Jesus day-in-and-day-out; as we hold fast in faith to key truths, lies begin to bounce off the Lord’s fortitude like arrows bouncing off an impenetrable shield.
Let’s do this thing!
Ephesians 6:10-18 is a key scripture to arm us with the tools required to press forward in the battle of quiet—our battle to turn down the lies and rest in the sweet song of Jesus. Enjoy it below:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you have the full desire to put on the armor of God, but might be asking yourself, “how exactly do I do this?”
Let’s break down each piece of armor listed in Ephesians—after all, we are told to put the full armor on. We’ll discuss what it could look like to incorporate these pieces of armor into our daily lives, as we begin our days in prayer and covering ourselves with the strength of the Lord:
BELT OF TRUTH: Center your lives on the truth of God. He has given to us in his Word, the church, and all of creation to speak towards the truth of who He is. Interpret God’s Word through the power of the Holy Spirit and trusted spiritual authorities in your life. Feed on his word daily, and ask God to help you discern his truth from enemy lies. Jesus is the Truth—abide in him! (Ephesians 3:14-19, John 16:13, John 8:31-32, Psalm 19:1-4, John 1:1-4, John 14:6)
BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: Guard your heart in the knowledge of your identity in Christ. He purchased the “legal standing” of your righteousness before God; in Christ, you are not condemned! May we live as children of God, made eternally righteous, and living unhindered by sin as we toss it aside and run the race marked out for us by Jesus. (Romans 8:1-2, Proverbs 4:23, Romans 8:33-34, Ephesians 5:8-10, Hebrews 12:1-3)
READINESS THAT COMES FROM THE GOSPEL OF PEACE: We are ready for anything because of the true Gospel—bringing peace to our hearts and minds. Our standing with God, in Christ, is unshakable. We may face troubles in this world, but Jesus supersedes the world. He has overcome; eternal perfection is ours, and we are in good standing with the God of the Universe. This peace makes us ready for anything. (John 16:33, Colossians 1:15-20)
SHIELD OF FAITH: The enemy shoots arrows of accusation at us all day long, but Christ is our shield. Our faith in Jesus is our salvation and no matter what fear, lies, or accusations come our way, they fall to the ground as we hold up our shield of faith. Practically speaking, we remind ourselves daily that we are eternally safe with Jesus and we will be with God forever. (Romans 10:17, Romans 10:10)
HELMET OF SALVATION: Guard your mind by holding fast to the knowledge that you are saved. You don’t need to earn your salvation; it was purchased for you by the blood of Jesus. Remind yourself of this at the onset of each day, so when the enemy tries to tempt you with lies that we need to earn our keep in the Kingdom, we can call it out for the malarky that it is. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT/WORD OF GOD: We can literally slay lies with this one. When we know the Word of God, and we see an opposing viewpoint come barreling towards our minds and hearts, we can wield our sword and say “NOPE”! The Word of God is an active, offensive weapon that we carry with us, prepared for warfare. The Word equips us for goodness, and to live lives marked by the Spirit of God. (Hebrews 4:12, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 10:5)
PRAY IN THE SPIRIT: Pray always, all the time, in every way you could think of. Bring your praises, repentances, and requests to God—and in the moments that you have no idea what to pray, simply posture your heart towards him and trust the the Spirit is there, interceding on your behalf. Prayer is about connection with God, inviting his Kingdom to reign forth in our worlds, and making requests before his throne—believing he loves us, and that he cares. (Ephesians 6:18, Romans 8:26-27, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:9-13)
So, there we are! I hope you have some moments today to dig through those linked Scripture verses, soaking in the truth of God’s good armor, provided for us in Jesus.
FUN IDEA: Choose one verse from each section and put it on a notecard, to review and pray each day.
Putting on your full armor daily—essentially, fortifying your heart, mind, and soul with the truth of the Gospel—will assist you in blocking out the lies of the enemy, resisting the temptations of your flesh, and pushing back against the ungodly sway of the world.
And remember, if any of this feels daunting or beyond your grasp, visit the previous section from the Cultivating Quiet series about turning to the God who rescues us—his strength is sufficient for us.
Our strength in the battle for quiet comes from the Lord himself. When the war for our soul feels too much to bear, may we remember the Almighty Strength (and protection) of Jesus:
But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. Psalm 3:3 NIV
He is the shield about us. He lifts our head high. May we armor up and remember this truth, as we foster keen ears for the Gospel song that surrounds us.
Stay tuned for the rest of the “Cultivating Quiet” series. Next up: we’ll chat about what specific lies we call out that are keeping us from experiencing the quiet lives with God our souls were made for. I hope and pray it exposes enemy ploys with the good truth of God, bringing freedom and restoration. Thanks for coming along for the journey!
PS—The book of Romans beautifully covers Gospel doctrine. It breaks down key aspects of the Christian faith, making it a great choice for new believers to encounter, or a refreshing choice for those wanting to re-focus on the core of the Gospel. Check out the study below for more information!
