How to Reset Your Brain and Quiet Your Soul Daily

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV

Seek Out Silence

One summer, I found my soul in a depleted state. We’d moved to a new town to be closer to my children’s four grandparents. Very unexpectedly, each one passed away in less than three years. Then my heart ricocheted all over days later when our first grandchild was born (joy!) but then soon after moved several states away with his parents (sadness). The weight of grief and sorrow—combined with pressure from my overcommitment in life—was almost too much to bear.

During this time, I heard a tip that proved to be life-changing for me: to spend seventeen minutes in silence daily, doing absolutely nothing.

What?! I’m usually mulling over many things in my mind at any given moment. I might be watching the news, but I’m also thinking about the chicken that I need to thaw for supper, which reminds me of the dirty dishes on the counter, which reminds me that I’m out of dish soap, which reminds me that when I go to the grocery store, I also need to swing by the post office since I am almost out of stamps. You get the picture.

Delete the Distractions

However, I decided to give a daily snippet of silence and stillness a try. So each day I’d wander out to the back of our property and sit near a clump of woods, trying my best to focus on the fluffy clouds playing hide and seek among the treetops and think absolutely nothing.

I’d immediately become distracted, thinking about my tasks. So I took a notebook to jot down “to dos” and “to remembers.” Then I’d try to absorb the sounds of the neighborhood: dogs barking, children playing, the ice cream truck heading down our street. If I did feel my mind start to fret, I’d repeat out loud: “Jesus, quiet my mind and settle my soul.”

Somehow, being silent and thinking nothing—while doing nothing—for seventeen minutes each day began to hit the restart button on my brain and quiet my heart.

Being Over Doing

As followers of Jesus, we often ponder all the things we should be doing in life or even for the Lord. But there is a verse in Scripture that instead summons us to quiet moments spent just being before the Lord.

It’s tucked in the book of Zephaniah, a prophetic book written during the reign of King Josiah. This book conveys a message of God’s sovereignty over all the nations and His righteous judgment that is to come. However, it also stresses how God will bless those who repent and trust in Him.

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV

Our English phrase “He will quiet” is translated from a singular Hebrew word,charash (pronounced khaw-rash), which means to cut in, to engrave, to perfect. Sometimes we need the Lord to cut into our day—as only he can—engraving His love upon our hearts and perfecting us to be more like His Son.

When we press pause during the day and cease thinking about our troubles or our to-do lists, we can focus on the Father, imagining Him rejoicing over us with singing and gladness—a snapshot that can renew our minds and quiet our souls.

In His Word

Read Zephaniah 3:14-17. Then, picture the Lord—as in the days of Zephaniah—rejoicing over you and quieting you with his love.

In Your Life

Look over your calendar for this week and block off seventeen minutes each day to be still before God.

We Recommend

We recommend The Love Your Life Project by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk. It will inspire you to cultivate a life-giving routine of rest and productivity.

Let’s Connect

Karen Ehman is a New York Times bestselling author and wife of her college sweetheart, Todd. The mother of three children and bonus children-in-law, she is also Grandma Kit to Jasper Ridge and Magnolia Rose. Her passion is to help believers reflect the gospel to a watching world. Connect with her at karenehman.com, on Substack at karenehman.substack.com, or on Instagram @karenehman.