It’s so simple yet so often overlooked. We rush through our day doing all the tasks we or others around us have put on our plates. And if by chance we have a moment to pause, rest or do nothing at all we often fill that space with whatever is on our phone, TV or other device we have at our immediate disposal.
Yet all the while there is one calling out to us, inviting us to cease from all our doing and simply be…
We are invited to step back from the busyness of life, to slow down, pause and take time to still our hearts and minds and just be… Be still… Be still and know… Be still and know God… Be still and know who God is, reflecting on all He’s done and all He is doing…
Our anxious thoughts however tell us we can’t stop, we can’t slow down, we have too much to do, too many things to get done. Sometimes we know in our hearts we should step back, pause, breathe, be still, but we won’t allow ourselves out of fear of what others might think. We think we have to keep up, do more, overachieve, post, scroll or check in… We fear we won’t have time, things won’t get done, others will disapprove, we’ll be rejected, we’ll miss out, our world will come crashing down (and whatever other lies we listen to).
But the truth is, most things can wait and a lot of things we actually don’t need to do at all. It’s in our times of being still that we begin to see clearly what truly matters and recognize what’s actually needed and what’s not. At the end of the day there is only one whose approval we truly need and we already have it! When we understand this truth an amazing sense of peace comes and overwhelms us in only the best of ways. A calmness of knowing that God is God and we are not comes and fills our souls. Our hearts are opened to greater revelations of the reality that God is good and kind, that God is with us and for us and that God not only has our world in His hands but the entire world is in His hands!
Refreshing comes in His presence, joy comes in His presence, peace comes in His presence… We find we’re actually able to cease from all our doing and simply be… We are awakened to the truth that we are not human doings after all, we are human beings. And from the stillness of being with God comes so many beautiful things!
Believing comes much more naturally and we’re reminded of our truest identity as God’s beloved children. And as His children we can rest knowing that He is a good father and He will provide everything we will ever need. In the stillness of being we experience a very real and true sense of belonging as well as a great sense of becoming. We know that we belong to the family of God, we are accepted and welcomed with open arms. We’re encouraged knowing that God is not only doing something beautiful within us but He is also about to do something new and beautiful through us. The beginning of new dreams are born, new opportunities are seen and our hearts become alive in His presence. We become like children again, care free, full of assurance, full of faith, full of joy.
So simple; so often overlooked…
But maybe, just maybe, today on this day we will hear the Father calling and we’ll respond to His invitation.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
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