The world is consuming. If I’m not careful, it’ll swallow me whole with just one bite. It surely has tried. The noise is so loud, I often leave my phone at my bedside for hours to resist the urge to scroll and scroll and scroll. On good days, I can see it all and be glad. I scroll TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn. I peruse YouTube and the bevy of streaming services I’ve been afforded with. My husband greets me with the latest trending story, and my responses Really, they did that? and Woah, that happened? are so commonplace that shock has become as predictable as dreading Monday. But on bad days – days I wish I could skip and never return to – the noise is far too loud.

As I study the Bible, I underline verses that stand out. And oftentimes, many of them are on topics that have been mentioned multiple times. In my studies this week, I encountered a concept within just a couple pages of each other. Paul touches on leading a quiet life in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and again in 1 Timothy 2:2. It’s so different from what this world offers that it’s where the true shock lies. But when I rest in God’s presence. When I spend more time living life with my family instead of following the pursuits of the world. It is there I find peace and love and hope and perseverance and strength. It is there I find purpose.

-Jas