May 29, 2017

Be Still

Devotion for the Week...

Being forced to be still drives me batty. Don't get me wrong...I am very good at being lazy when I choose to be. Reading for a couple of hours, scrolling Instagram, reading quilty blog posts or hand stitching in the chair with a cup of tea are all perfect. Sitting in that same chair for two entire days because I just don't have the energy to do anything else? That makes me crazy!

Unfortunately, over the past couple of years I've had a few instances of weird colds that start off with me being stuffed up or having a scratchy throat and then just turn into sheer exhaustion that leaves me unable to do anything but sit. And the whole time I'm sitting my mind is running through all the things I had planned to be getting done that day, and getting more and more frustrated because I can't actually do any of it.

Recently I had one of those forced-to-sit-and-do-nothing weekends and I hated it. While I was sitting there, thinking about how much I hate to be still, though, I thought of the verse that says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). 

Being forced to be physically still doesn't guarantee that I'm going to focus on God, though, as evidenced by my to-do list running constantly through my mind as my frustration level mounted. Which is probably why the command in this verse does not necessarily mean a physical stillness, but rather a spiritual one. The original word used for "still" has the connotation of letting something go slack and of not holding it tight anymore.

 Psalm 46 as a whole is about God as our refuge, which is actually how the psalm starts: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" (vv. 1-3). The psalm feels to me like a study in contrasts - the trouble and upheaval in this world set opposite the steadiness and constant protection provided by God.

I think that's what God wants us to see when He tells us, "Be still, and know that I am God." It's not that we have to physically sit and do nothing, but that our minds and our spirits can step away from the craziness and upheaval of this world and remember how He provides for us. Remember how He protects us, how He is our safe haven, no matter what is going on in our lives. We can choose to still ourselves spiritually and remember that He is God. Though our world may feel like it is nothing but chaos and confusion, He is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help in whatever trouble we face.

Weekly devotions on Christian living | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

Even while we scratch things off our to-do lists this week, let's choose to be still, spiritually, and focus on Him as our refuge and strength.

1 comment:

  1. Amen. I find myself in that place of impatience in having to be still often. As a stage 4 cancer survivor who still takes maintenance drugs daily that make me feel horrible most of the time, I have to be still a lot. It's so easy to get swallowed up in that place of feeling useless or unnecessary as we must sit at watch our days pass before our eyes without the chance to even engage in or enjoy them. But, like you, there are times when God speaks to me that there are reasons for this stillness. To focus on who He is, what He has done and is able to do. To remember what things are truly important, to pray for others, read His word...just "be still" with him and know that He is God, He is in control and all things will be what they will be in His time, not mine.
    Thank you for this beautiful post!
    I pray your day is blessed.

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