Finding Comfort in the Quiet

By Christopher Black

While deployed to Al Udeid, I had several experiences that I could not have predicted when I left my home station. The president of the United States came to visit, there was an unprecedented missile attack on the base, and a monsoon revealed every leak in an aging chapel roof.

With these exceptional circumstances as highlights, it was an interesting deployment, but I also had some unexpected encounters with God. These encounters did not arrive in the pomp, explosions, or flooding. These loud events were filled with excitement, adrenaline, and sometimes anxiety. However, it was not in the excitement that I met God; rather, it was in the quiet moments between these events.

1 Kings 19 tells the story of Elijah meeting God where he also experiences some loud events. After escaping the rage of an evil queen, Elijah goes to the mountain. Now the mountain is not an accidental place to go; rather, it is the place to go and meet God. There Elijah experienced the power of torrenting wind, earthquake, and fire. Scripture tells us that God was not in these things. Then came a gentle wind and Elijah covered his face because in the breeze he heard the voice of the Lord. There was so much noise that preceded the voice of the Lord, but the voice was in the whisper.

During my deployment, I served as the deputy wing chaplain, and I delegated services to chaplains serving with me. However, I elected to participate with the traditional Protestant service as my primary outlet to pastor my fellow service members. The traditional service was ecumenical as it drew from multiple sources to shape the liturgy, and it concluded with a Communion celebration from the Free Methodist Pastors and Church Leaders Manual. In the service, we had various Methodists/Wesleyans, Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and a few other folks who felt at home with a liturgy or preferred traditional hymns.

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 “Confident peace that Jesus Christ was the one who watched over and protected was unexpected in a sense, but it came about in the quietness of a moment in prayer.”

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An Unexpected Encounter

This was the setting for my first notable God encounter that I was not expecting. Early in the deployment, I had a parishioner who reflected on the power of saying the Lord’s Prayer at Al Udeid while their children were also praying the Lord’s Prayer at their home church. This was a special connection that spanned the distance between our base in the Middle East and their home in the United States.

After this short conversation, I continued to reflect on how Christians had been praying this prayer during worship services since Jesus taught His disciples to pray. In the second century, Justin Martyr outlined Christian worship. In the 18th century, John Wesley provided the “Methodist in America,” a guidebook for Sunday worship. Both gave evidence of the practice of praying the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. Meeting Jesus in a common prayer brought a sense of unity with the whole church and with my own family. Nearly every time I led the Lord’s Supper at Al Udeid, I would reflect on this connection and sensed that God had given me and all Christians a gift with this prayer.

Peace and Presence

A second opportunity to meet God came shortly after the missile attacks that made the news in June 2025. The next day, I was reflecting on what happened and trying to maintain my habit of prayer and Scripture reading. I opened the Book of Common Prayer and read one of the collect prayers for the day. It said,

“O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know You is eternal life and to serve You is perfect freedom: Defend us, Your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in Your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

An overwhelming sense of peace in God’s presence washed over me. I had been running high on adrenaline for a few weeks, and this marked a point of change. I could not have defined it at the time. Looking back, I realized that I had run out of my own strength and somehow continued to move forward. The final line of this prayer says, “through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Confident peace that Jesus Christ was the one who watched over and protected was unexpected in a sense, but it came about in the quietness of a moment in prayer.

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 “Whatever you find that helps you pray and meet God in Scripture is key.”

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Meeting God

As we walk into a new year, I challenge you to expect God to meet you, but not in the loud and exceptional moments. Rather, expect God to show up when you walk in the devotional habits of your faith. The beginning of the year is always a good time to establish new habits.

For the sake of your Christian life, I implore you to find something that connects you with Jesus through prayer and Scripture. It might be a modern devotional book, or an older devotional guide like the Book of Common Prayer, or a daily Bible reading. Whatever you find that helps you pray and meet God in Scripture is key.

Also, like Elijah who went to the mountain, find a place to meet God. This might be a particular chair or room in your house. I recommend somewhere consistent at the same time each day. However, life is often unpredictable, and your mountain might be anywhere you open Scripture and intend to pray.

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