How should my quiet time end?

A quiet time is an alone time with God. It is an opportune moment to tune in and quietly listen to God’s personal directives for us. But these moments are not just descriptive of how our time should be with the Lord, it focuses more on the fruit of those precious times—a quieted heart for the restless soul.

1 Samuel 1 records in detail how Hannah would have her “quiet times” in a not so quiet way. She was in an emotional whirlwind that was devastating her.

Hannah pretty much had problems like what some of us have today: She was barren (1:2), she was persecuted (1:7), she felt like her husband didn’t understand her (1:8), her leader misjudged her (1:14). With all the problems she had, she wept bitterly before the Lord.

With the manner she wept, her temple leaders even thought she was drunk. Boy, you could imagine how that woman wails. But Hannah knows when she have wept enough. At one point, she walked away from weeping “and was no longer sad” (v.18). That must be the time when the assuring presence of God breathed through her like a comforting balm. Like Hannah, there are countless times we come to God weeping because of unbearable circumstances. A lot of times, we get too tired of crying that we fall asleep in our moment with God, and that culminates our time with him for that day. Hannah gives us a picture that we can walk away the opposite of how we came to him.

That said, it should then be assumed with no contention that as a person who has a relationship with God, everytime we part from the table of conversation, after damping our notebooks with the wet of our tears, we ought to leave burden-free and pregnant of promises and hope.

Hannah’s tears were real. The laments were real. The cries were sure loud. But the peace of God would mute every decibel of agony and pain.

That is how it should be with us.

Whenever we come to God, remember, he isn’t just a good sounding board for all our worries. Throughout history, God has proven himself not just to be a good listener, but also decree activator for his people. Jesus in flesh and blood was an exclamation to that.

Beloved, your relationship with the Lord should not be pale. When we come to him, bare your heart and allow the Lord to minister to you. Do not stand from the table without a word from him. A person who knows his Lord will not walk away sad.