Quiet Strength

Quiet Strength

In quietness and trust is your strength. – Isaiah 30:15

Isaiah 30:15-26

 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.

 18 So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.

 19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.

 20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.

 21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.

 26 So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.

Tony Dungy, former NFL player and coach, went on to be a football analyst with NBC. He was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts. Dungy won Super Bowl XLI. He was the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl. Dungy was among the league’s most respected coaches and men during his tenure in the NFL. He had the respect of fans, players, and fellow coaches.

His thoughts on leading, succeeding, and attaining true significance are explained in his book Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life, published in 2007. He explains, “The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better.”

Coach Dungy shares his story of a life lived for God and family. Quiet Strength is a book about faith, Tony Dungy’s faith. He grew up in a Christian home. He learned early to seek God’s will in all situations. He depended upon God’s faithful guidance in all his major life choices.

Tony Dungy’s ideology and example have intrigued and inspired millions of people. As an NFL football coach, he did what was seemingly impossible. He won his players’ respect and led them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, and the expectation that football comes before anything else.

What made Tony Dungy exceptional?

1. His Composure:

Dungy’s coaching style is built on patient instruction rather than in-your-face screaming. He seldom raises his voice. He is never seen screaming, yelling, cursing, or throwing tirades on the sideline.

2. His Consistency

He has consistency in his life. “He is more impressive the more you know him.” And he is just as consistent in living out his faith as he is at coaching.

3. His Communication Skills

Dundee is a great communicator. What makes him special? Dungy talks to people like they are people.

4. His Priorities

His credo might have been, “No excuses, no explanations.” He challenged his players to be more than just a winning football team. He wanted them to be winners in life – and he led by example.

5. His Genuineness

He’s a person who cares about everybody’s story. He is genuinely interested in the lives of others.

6. His Humility

REFLECT & PRAY

Children of the King with quiet strength exhibit the fact that they have been tested and have overcome. They don’t need to tell everyone. Instead, they live it out.

Father I desire to have the Quiet Strength that You provide at the core of my life. And then to live it out consistently.

INSIGHT

“God asks us to work hard for His kingdom (1 Thessalonians 5:12), but He never instructs us to strive for anything apart from the empowering of His Spirit. Dependence upon Him leads to a quiet, confident spirit” (Stanley).

Throughout his life, Dungy used the Scriptures and Bible stories when encountering difficulties and obstacles on and off the football field. However, he was well aware that mere humans have no guarantee that they will always make the right decisions. Regardless, they should always pray for guidance. He is a man of unambiguous humility. There is no sense of pride, arrogance, or egotism lurking.

“Dungy understands his place in this world. He knows WHO is at the center of the universe – and he spends his life yielding to the ONE who is at the center. We would all do well to discover our rightful place in this universe – know that we are not at the center, and yield to the ONE who is. That, in my estimation, is Dungy’s Quiet Strength” (Jimmy Larche).

As a child of the King, Dungy shows the way for all of us to have a quiet strength and live the life which stands out from the rest of the pack.

Fallen DNA, as such, does not want to yield or submit. We are a stubborn, rebellious lot. Yet the Father offers every child of the King quiet strength when His conditions are met.

Isaiah 30:15 If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength, but you are unwilling.

“The ways of God are counterintuitive . . .. But true spirituality might not be what we think it is. God sent Isaiah to us with an improbable message: Our only hope is in abandoning every other hope, however obvious. Our only truth is in disbelieving every other truth, however widely accepted. Our only safety is in trust; our only stability is in yielding control; our only freedom is in surrender.”

“God is saying that the conventional wisdom of our culture, which magnifies human potential and human virtue and human smarts, is stupid. He is saying that the inner fullness we all desire comes from outside ourselves. He says that our initial reaction to real spirituality might be irritation and disbelief. God directs our eyes to a bloodied mass of human flesh, a man beaten beyond recognition, rejected by the elites and the opinion-shapers and the religious gurus, a man suffering on a cross, and God says, ‘He is the Giver of the Spirit. That cross is the secret to true spirituality’” (Ortlund and Hughes).

“In some way, it is very surprising that the people of Judah refused to trust in God’s marvelous promises of salvation when they were in such a hopeless situation. The prophet indicates that the primary stumbling block was that they were not willing to trust God with their lives (Isaiah 30:15c). Putting it bluntly, they said ‘no’ to God. Instead of having a calm trust in God’s strength, they chose to put their trust in horses (Isaiah 30:16), a symbol of military might” (Gary V. Smith).

How often do we say “No” to the Father? It is so sad.

The Father’s surprising, counterintuitive ways are laid out for all to see. “God has stockpiled resources for us that outperform all human techniques and coping strategies and spiritual regimens. The things of the Spirit are hidden for us, not from us, with Christ in God, and the gospel is the map showing us the way there” (Ortlund and Hughes).

Paul shows us the way.

Colossians 3:2-5

 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

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© Dr. H 2022