Daily Dwelling

Stillness is a difficult concept for some. I remember getting this word from God while I was in college. My life was the opposite of still. I was a college softball player who was majoring in music and minoring in sociology and psychology. Most days started with early morning workouts. I attended 3-4 classes a day. I had 3-hour practices with recovery afterward. Somewhere in between, I would try to find time to eat, study, and maybe read my bible. I laughed when God gave me this word. How could I possibly learn stillness in this season? News flash.. my life is just as busy just in a different way.

Someone I admired and looked up to gave me a frame as a gift for my birthday that year. It had a custom printed verse. You wanna know what it said? “Be still and know that I am God.” Of course, she had no idea. God had given me the word “stillness” 8 months before, at the start of the year. I still have it on display in our front sitting room.

This verse from Psalm 46 became an anthem for me that year. Prior to this verse, David lists the many reasons we can be still and know that God is God. He tells us that God is our refuge and our strength. He is our help in trouble. He is with us! When we know who God is, we know why we can trust Him.

At first, I thought being still meant setting aside time in my day. I thought God was just telling me to slow down, sit, and relax. But practicing this verse is more than finding time for solitude. Although solitude is another very important spiritual practice. Being still and knowing in our day to day looks like going to God in the mundane. It looks a whole lot like surrender. It looks like us resting in the confidence of who God is and what He is doing in every moment of our day. We can rest because He is at work. We are allowed to rely on Him because He is perfect.

God himself, Jesus, slept in the middle of a raging storm. His disciples were terrified. This seemed to be a chaotic moment, similar to what many of us are walking through now. And when they woke him, Jesus was not anxious. He spoke stillness into the chaos: “Peace. Be still.” Jesus modeled being still so effortlessly for us.

Being still means to stop striving, proving, and rest in God’s perfect character. Rest in the fact that He is sustaining us. He walks with us through the peaks or valleys of the mountainside. He is faithful and constant. I am still learning this stillness as my life changes and shifts each year. There are different aspects that are altered or added to my life each year. It’s in the change that I must re-learn what stillness looks like with the Father. But I pray that we don’t just choose stillness once we’re tired and worn out. But we instead choose stillness in our every day so we avoid feelings of anxiety and stress. Are you currently practicing stillness in Jesus? What needs to change in order for you to do so? Pray, ask God to teach you stillness and He will. But also be prepared to make adjustments to align with this act of surrender.