Daily Devotion

“The space, the silence, the darkness, the loneliness all produced a state of consciousness when the accepted values of life seemed readjusted, being found to be curiously different from those accepted by day in the busy throng. Day uttereth speech, but night showeth knowledge; and we have remained wiser women for the meditations of those Gobi nights.”

Mildred Cable & Francesca French · Through Jade Gate and Central Asia (1927), ch. "Gobi Nights"

Scripture

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, said: “In returning and rest you will be saved; in quietness and trust will be your strength”; but you yourselves refused.

Reflection

We often mistakenly believe that busyness is a badge of piety, unaware that our relentless pursuit of tasks often causes us to miss our connection with God. Travelling by night across the Gobi, Mildred Cable found that the desert's silence readjusts what we value; true strength lies not in increasing the weight of our work, but in returning to the rest of our souls. When we let go of the anxiety of trying to control the situation and choose to be still before God, the will obscured by trivial matters will gradually become clear. Today, try to pause, cultivate an altar in the desert of your heart, and only by first being with the Lord will our actions have eternal value.