Be Still

I have always had trouble being still. When I was little I had an uncle who would trap me as I ran around my grandparents’ home during holiday gatherings and make me sit still on his lap for a full minute. I thought I would die! Of course, if I wiggled or fought he would start the time over again until I sat completely still for the entire time. I guess I really haven’t changed much as an adult. I don’t run through the house at family gatherings anymore, but I am rarely still. I always have to be doing something. If there’s action, I am usually in the midst of it. God is revealing to me how dangerous that can be in my life. If I keep myself busy, there is no time to be lonely and I don’t have to think about the things I wish were different about my life. However, keeping busy shuts out the One who has the solution to the loneliness.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. The Lord delights in the way of the man whose steps he has made firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”       Psalm 37:7 & 23

If we never take the time to be alone, we will never see that there is a solution to the loneliness in the midst of being alone. God is waiting for us to be still long enough to hear Him tell us how much He loves us, or to whisper His promises to us. But he is a gentleman.  He rarely shouts above the noise and busyness of life to be heard by us, and unlike my uncle God won’t trap us and hold us on His lap until we stop struggling and listen to Him. He waits for us to come to Him and be still before Him. It’s more than reading His word or talking to Him in prayer. It’s becoming motionless and peaceful before our Lord, allowing Him to speak without expectations. It is only then that we can know the steps on the path He has laid out before us. And it is then that He can delight in his child and uphold us along that path.

Lord, too often I get so caught up in the busyness of my life that I don’t allow myself to be still before You and allow You to pour Yourself into my life. I know in my head that You alone are enough for me. But I want to know it in my heart. Teach me to be motionless and peaceful in Your presence. Teach me to be still before You, and to rest in Your arms.