May is easily my favorite month of the year. Spring is well on its way and flowers and trees are blooming. The world after a dreary and silent winter seems to be rejoicing. As I was driving through my neighborhood thanking God for all the flowers in bloom, God reminded me that all of this started in the quiet place.

It was the quiet of winter that produced the beauty of spring. I want to write to all you beautiful quiet souls. The ones who receive God’s word and bury it deep within their hearts, nourishing it and transforming it into abundant fruit that in their own way they feed the world with. I was speaking with a new friend who said she didn’t do anything big, she preferred to remain in the background.  I was so touched by her simplicity and had to remind her that in her quiet nourishing way she did more than those who God called to be in the forefront.

The quiet place is not a place that many of us can linger, but it is the place where the most growth happens. I have a sister that became a prayer warrior in the quiet place. I always tell her that rockets are made underground. They are not made in plain sight, being hidden away allows for the creation of something that is simultaneously surprising and enormous. She was rebuilt in the quiet place. Now she impacts us all by daily shining God’s light on us and reminding us of His love.

Jesus’ resurrection took place in the quiet place. In the darkness of a tomb, God chose to show us the power to be had in the quiet place. Not all of us can sit by the quiet tomb, waiting patiently to see God’s handiwork. To those of you who do, know how vital you are for the growth that happens all around you.

I heard a story this weekend that illustrates you best. Back in early England before electricity lit the nighttime sky, there were Lamplighters. It was someone’s job to go around at dusk and light the lamp posts. The interesting thing is that the lamplighter always walks forward into the darkness and never into the light they are leaving behind. Always lighting and moving forward, they don’t perceive all the light, safety and peace they create as they cross countless towns ensuring that the darkness cannot overtake the light.

This is what we are all called to. To be lamplighters. In heaven we will get to see the light we left behind but here let us persist in our walk and know that the light we share is not our own. 

When was the last time we allowed ourselves to be quiet? To not jump in with the answer? To let someone else’s light shine greater than ours? To all you quiet souls. Thank you for teaching us the power of the tomb.