In the moments when you are still, you are receiving.

In the moments when you are still, you are listening.

In the stillness, you are relinquishing control.

In the stillness, you find rest.

From the beginning, it seems…when you read God’s story, He didn’t create us for 6 days of stillness and 1 day of work. In His image, it’s understandable that we actively apply our gifts, while trusting in His provision to get through each day as the days form into weeks and years. And yes, these bodies He gave us to handle our days are miraculous. But as we grow up into them we realize that we cannot go on indefinitely without the stillness of sleep. Then as we mature in our faith, we realize we cannot go on indefinitely without the stillness of prayer, or the restoration of peace. It would seem God created Sabbath in part to let us know that we are not who He is on our own. He is in true love with our need for Him.

In stillness, I believe is where God invites us to receive Him without any idea-generating on our part. To reconnect our tattered heartstrings to Him, and be refilled with His kind of grace.

Consider Psalm 46:10 which opens with “Be still and know that I am God.” This Psalm was inspired by a time when a mighty enemy army was threatening to destroy a nation. Their King, Hezekiah, was a Godly man: wise, busy, and I’m sure hard-working. However, when a superpower enemy surrounded his beloved nation, he chose only to trust in the Lord for their deliverance. Instead of their impending annihilation, a nation surrendered only to God witnessed the defeat of their attackers, by God alone. God Himself spoke to the heart of one who followed Him completely: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10). He did what only God can do. And it’s good for us to remember, that when we are worn down we too can be easily attacked by the lies of an enemy power. Lies about incompetence, defeat, inability…enemies called cancer, heart disease, divorce, death, job loss.

Yet we serve a God who masters a grand plan, even when we are still. Psalm 107:29 tells us:

He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

Can we do that without God? And isn’t is reassuring to know that Psalm 139:18 sings:

…When I awake, I am still with you.

Be still with God. Even if just for a small moment. Even if it’s, like the Proverbs 31 woman, because your getting up “while it is still dark” to provide food for your family. Be still a moment while packing that lunch.

And be glad that an Almighty and Ever-Loving God is in control.

Trying to “un-busy” along with you;
Lia