“Be still and know that I am God.” Ps. 46 10
I know that one by heart. I don’t have to look it up. But I am seldom still.
Inside the house, chores scream at me to be completed. “I am dirty, clean me. I’ve been soaking all night, wash me. I am messy, tidy me up.” There are other voices saying, “i am interesting, watch me. You need to know me, research me. This looks good, read me.” Then there’s the ever present, “I am a brilliant idea that will disappear if you don’t write me.” Among the cacophony of these external voices are the ones in my head. “You are slob because you aren’t cleaning and washing and tidying up right now. You are missing out because you aren’t watching or researching or reading. You’ve already missed the brilliant idea, and you call yourself a writer?” The voices are relentless.
I step outside onto the deck. It’s quiet, which is unusual. I live in a townhouse complex with multiple neighbours, beside a busy park. But at this moment, peace prevails.
Yet, is it quiet? I have developed a skill that helps me focus on the task at hand, where extraneous noises don’t hit my consciousness. I don’t hear them. If I concentrate on them, they are there, but when I am focusing on a task, they don’t break through. It helps me accomplish all kinds of tasks.
Today, I remove the filter. I listen to how the breeze rustles the leaves of a tree two doors down. I hear the birds calling to each other–the insistent blue jay and the lovely trill of several other birds I can’t identify. I watch the wispy clouds drift across the sky. I smile at the grass seed I put down a few weeks ago, which has sprouted lush green and filled in the barren spots in my lawn. There are a few spots that need some more help though. I really should get some more seed today STOP!
You see how easily it happens? Even out here, it is difficult for someone like me to be still. I love accomplishing things. I feel like a whole, important, productive person when I do.
God doesn’t see me that way, though. He calls me to be still.
Why?
Because when I am still, I listen. He talks to me. My soul is nourished. When I am still, my crooked, twisted world rights itself, and I know He is God. I see His creation, His order, His control. I hear His peace. I feel His love. When I am still, I am the me He wants me to be.
The task are not evil, and they will be completed. But not by a harried, guilt-ridden, worn-out me. I am nourished. I have been still and listened to my Father, and I can accomplish them with purpose and joy. Those other, negative voices in my head? I know where they come from, and the funny thing is, I can’t hear them any more.
Today, in the peace of a Saturday morning, God drew me out to my deck, sat me in a chair with a coffee and spoke to me.
I bet he wants to speak to you, too. Be still…
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“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work.”A.W. Tozerhttp://ctt.ec/pbuWK
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION: How has God broken through your busy-ness and spoken to you today?