'Gainst the Grain

If you planted a seed in the soil and then started to tamper with it--move it around, dig up the dirt around it, etc... What would happen? Would that bring life to the seed, or would it disrupt its growth process?

Being still.

This goes against what many of us know and consider a normal aspect of our lives: busyness, hurriedness , overbooking, and multitasking.

It's funny what I am realizing more and more as I write this. Busyness, hurriedness, overbooking, and multitasking are all encapsulated in this issue of control.

Being still requires us to trust and relinquish control.
Being still also slows us down enough to feel. Frankly, sometimes feeling seems too much to bear. Issues are going to surface, and we're going to have to sit in them, and allow time for healing to enter into those places in our lives. The posture of stillness requires of us a commitment to intentionality. It requires us to give up many levels of comfort, and it also asks us to acknowledge our needs and weaknesses. Being still puts our spirits in a place of acknowledging the realities of our existence whereas being busy gives us a false sense of knowing how everything will turn out--it's a sorry attempt to safeguard our lives and futures.

***

Being still reminds me that the accomplishment of tasks and the meeting of due dates will not determine the course of my life. In fact, it reminds me that there is something far grander that IS in control. Even more importantly, it reminds me that my existence is not for the sake of self. I'm just a small part of a much larger, more magnificent Story.

Love, mercy, faithfulness, gentleness, joy, patience, etc... (you get the picture) have no room in busyness or hurriedness. Self takes the throne in those tendencies.
I don't belong in that throne, and I don't want to place myself there--even unintentionally.

Being still is a discipline. And it's one that I fight frequently. I fight it with excuses (yes, some of them would even seem justifiable or somewhat appropriate).
It's funny that I often run from the very things that give me life; being still and being in the presence of my Maker does give me life.

Being still allows me, allows us, to be refined. Feeling pain or discomfort in light of becoming better, stronger, and more whole is worth it. The old adage of 'what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger' is true for being still. It's not going to kill you.

I'm finding time--no, i'm making time to be still, and I invite you to join me. Yeah, it'll feel awkward and uncomfortable. But the result of this will be the building of a habit that will change our lives and how we live.


"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD."
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD, AND THAT I AM GOING TO:

-love you
-provide for you
-guide and counsel you
-lavish gifts upon your life
-bless you
-teach you
-lead you
-heal you
-challenge you
-forgive you
-celebrate you
-delight in you
-speak to you
-draw near to you
-use you
-give you purpose