God-Sized Dreams: A 30-Day Journey of Faith and CourageSample

It’s Okay for Your Dream to Be a Quiet One

We live in a world where we consider loud to be good. Entertainment and getting attention are valued. How many eyeballs can we attract, clicks can we get, minutes of fame can we grasp?

And yet in the middle of the noise, there’s a whisper inviting us to a different kind of life, a different kind of dream.

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." (1 Thessalonians 4:11–12)

It’s okay if your dream isn’t loud.

It’s okay if it doesn’t get much attention.

It’s okay if no one even knows you’re doing it.

I’ve fallen into the trap of leading a “loud” life before. In my world, it wasn’t so much about attention as it was about busyness. My schedule screamed at me because it was so full. And over time, I realized I was hoping it would declare to everyone else, “Look how wanted she is!” My intense life came from a place of deep insecurity. I thought if I could just be busy enough, then I could prove that I was desired, valued, and loved.

During that season, I would read the verses above and feel totally confused. It felt so different than my daily experience. Yet over time, God showed me that I could let go of being so busy, and that even more importantly, I could only do so as I became quiet on the inside first.

Being quiet on the inside means knowing we don’t have to strive because we are already enough in Jesus.

Being quiet on the inside means we don’t have to prove our worth but rather we can receive it.

Being quiet on the inside means living with a calm confidence that doesn’t need to convince the world how much we matter.

So “living a quiet life” means two things: being willing to pursue our God-sized dream even if no one ever sees or knows it. And it means that even when our God-sized dream requires us to be outwardly busy for a season, we let God teach our hearts to be at peace.

When we embrace those two aspects, it lets us settle down and do what comes next in the Scriptures above: “work with our hands.” Like we talked about before, that means doing what’s in front of us each day.

And when it comes to your God-sized dreams, you can find comfort in knowing you don’t need a stage. You don’t need a spotlight. You don’t have to grab the attention of millions of people.

Your God-sized dream can happen quietly in what seems like a small way and still make a big difference.

Elijah the prophet knew all about making a big show. God used him to publicly stand up to the prophets of Baal. Yet when God revealed his presence to Elijah, he did it through a whisper. It was as if God knew Elijah needed to understand that while there is a time and place for loud, there is tremendous power in the quiet and hidden too.

In our loud world, God’s presence is often revealed best through the “quietness” of our lives and hearts too.

Go Deeper

Read the story of how God revealed himself to Elijah through a whisper in 1 Kings 19:11-13.

God, thank you for inviting me to make it my ambition to lead a quiet life. In a world that is so loud, it’s so reassuring to know I don’t have to shout to make a difference in your kingdom. If there is static in my life or heart, please reveal it to me and help me get rid of it so that my life and heart can be quiet in the ways you intend. Amen.

What’s one truth you want to remember?

What’s the next small step you’ll take?