be still

Life’s overwhelming circumstances can leave us feeling completely helpless. But the Lord promises to never leave us. All we need to do is choose to be still and wait on Him.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
Ram Doss

I sat on the cold hospital floor and knelt beside the bed as still as could be. My hand held the one whom I had called Daddy my entire life. All we could do was just be still and wait…

Be Still and Know God

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, NKJV

God…sometimes there is just too much noise! There’s just too much going on around me. I just want to run away and hide!

If you are anything like me, you have prayed this same prayer more than once in your life. As Americans, we live in a fast-paced world filled with busy schedules and lives that seem to move at lightning speed. It is so easy to take our great and mighty God for granted when we don’t take the time to be still and know Him.

Kneeling beside the bed of my dad just days ago, I felt the same way. Everything in my life seemed to overwhelm me in that instant. Would he make it through this surgery? Could the surgeons fix his heart? Mind you, I was not doubting God or my faith, just worried and overwhelmed. But, as the minutes ticked by I remembered how God had helped me the past three years and all the lessons He had taught me along the way.

Many times I had people around me ask how I survived and held on to my faith? It was not anything I did, but everything He showed me. So, let me take a few minutes and share with you what God has taught me about being still in Him.

To Know Him is to Love Him

I accepted Christ into my heart at a young age. I am so thankful that I grew up knowing and understanding His love, His Word, and His ways. Dear friend, you may know who God is and believe in God, but do you “know” Him?

Do you believe Christ died on the cross for you? Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sins and come to live in your heart? Once you do this, you will experience His love, grace, mercy, and peace. Then you will begin to understand and “know” His ways.

Let the Worries Fade Away

Have you ever wondered how some Christians can go through pain and suffering and still have joy? It’s because they are being still. As a Christian God teaches us to put all our worries in His hands.

Instead of listening to the noise of your worries, listen to the voice of the Lord. We are not to let our joy come from our circumstances, because our circumstances can change in an instance. Our God does not change. Stop worrying about your joy and your happiness and let Him fight for you.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14, NIV

Have No Fear

The Lord remains the same. As Christians, we know He can fight our battles, but we still seem consumed with fear. Fear of the unknown? Fear of failure? Fear of the future? Did you know the Devil can use these fears against us? He loves to distract us with our worries and our fears because they can distance us from God.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.
Psalm 46:1-2, KJV

God has proven time and again that He can work within us and through us. Sometimes He allows trials to come into our lives, so we can learn to depend more upon Him. Remember, God is always in control. Stop worrying and just be still.

Wait

Waiting is hard and sometimes waiting can hurt. It is in our human nature to want to control every situation. Sometimes it can feel like God is not answering our prayers or does not seem to understand the urgency of our situation. But, if we give in to those thoughts we are saying God is not in control or He is not being fair.

Be still because God is worth waiting for. He is often at work behind the scenes in ways we cannot fathom. We should be still and discover what God is trying to teach us while we are waiting.

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalm 27:14, KJV

Be still because God is worth waiting for. He is often at work behind the scenes in ways we cannot fathom. We should be still and discover what God is trying to teach us while we are waiting. Click To Tweet

Choose

I choose to be still and wait on the Lord in my present circumstances. I choose to discover what He wants me to learn in the storm. I choose to listen to the voice of my Lord, and not the noise of my worries. I choose joy. I choose life. I choose love. Join me and let us JUST BE STILL.

Until we meet again… Gracie

Elliot Mann

Stillness can be a daily habit to insure our whole being aligns with God. Creating oneness with God in our busy lives, becomes easier during quiet meditation.

Life is a whirlwind of happenings, appointments, activities, stuff. The world yanks us in many different directions and the multiplication of all of life’s intricacies, create huge “energy stealers”. In busyness, it can be incredibly difficult to focus in on God. At the extreme, it paralyzes our ability to even experience God. So, how can we overcome these pulls?

I recently wrote about rest and how rejuvenating our souls in the Lord gives us true energy. But, what should we do with that energy. Yes, the normal daily things come to mind… cleaning up messes would be a great use of it. However, I want to suggest one more step before we head off into our worlds of schedules and tasks… stillness.

Confused Stillness

I’ve touched a bit in previous posts that I tend to be more reserved and introverted. For a long time, I thought stillness and quietness were one in the same. That may be true in the worldly realm, but spiritually, they are quite different. I am quiet and also distracted. Yes, I can pray while I do the dishes, or contemplate God while folding laundry, but that is not stillness. That’s multitasking.

Stillness can also be confused with rest. Stillness uses energy. Whereas, resting causes you to gain energy. When you seek rest in the Almighty, you are trusting Him to fill you with supernatural energy. Oppositely, stillness uses that energy to zoom in on God within us, to provide peace, clarity, and joy.

What Is Stillness?

Not to get all Hippie-Dippie on you, but it’s a tranquil activity which produces serenity and calmness within. Stillness is a complete focus on God inside of us. Our bodies, minds, hearts being completely still before the Lord. Stillness insures we are hearing God’s voice, feeling His presence, and His goodness is filling us. A meditation if you will. In order to truly meditate on something, you must have energy. Just like in any activity, you need the power to do it.

Now, meditation can be a taboo word in the Christian community. It’s usually has association with other religions or practices. However, in my research, I learned that meditation is not linked to any religion, at all. There’s actually science behind what happens. Our bodies physically benefit from this activity, and, ultimately, our souls.

Quiet Meditation

Yes, messes are all around us physically, but our minds are no different. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God didn’t have to push through all that clutter in order to speak with us? To have an unadulterated oneness with the Lord, could you imagine? We are humans, so, this isn’t possible. However, we can create habits that drive us towards oneness.

I’m not a yoga teacher and I have no schooling in the art of meditating. All I can give you is what I have personally learned…

Clean Space

I noticed that when I need meditation most, is when there’s the biggest mess. So, finding an uncluttered, completely clean part of your home may be difficult, but it’s vital. Yes, our eyes are shut, but our minds are not fooled.

Breathe

We all know that a few deep breaths can bring calmness and clarity, but slowed, controlled breathing for periods of time, really brings a nice detox to the blood stream and the mind.

Posture

I am a sloucher. If I don’t change this habit, I see back issues in my future. Sit up straight. Really be mindful of the posture of your body. Sit in a comfortable position that allows for pristine spinal posture.

Shut Out

One part of meditation is the practice of completely shutting out the world. This is really important. As a child of God, I have a calling to not be OF this world, but to allow God to transform me. If I don’t minimize myself in meditative habit, I cannot be changed.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2, NIV

Thinking

This is the hardest for me; to combat human nature… I think all of the time. It’s so important to push out all our thoughts and really focus on God. I try to focus only on one thing about God: the cross, a specific characteristic, God’s work inside of me (physically or spiritually), specific scripture.

Hope for Stillness

Again, this oneness in the Lord is something only hoped for. However, stillness thins the line between hope and achievement.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

John 15:4, NLT

Jesus came to earth, lived as one of us. He saw our struggle then, and sees our struggle now. The world pulls us in so many directions; most dragging us away from our Father. Jesus knew this truth when He spoke those words. We cannot flourish in all we do, aside from God. Making stillness a daily habit insures our actions, attitudes, thoughts are saturated in God.

We cannot flourish in all we do, aside from God. Making stillness a daily habit insures our actions, attitudes, thoughts are saturated in God. Click To Tweet

Be Still: Choosing to Wait on the Lord in Our Circumstances