Stillness: When Less is More
/“Be still and know that I am God!”
In this season of extreme change, I am being stripped of all pretense. My challenges are big. My needs are extensive. I am a problem solver. Sounds like a time to take massive action, right?
These days I feel like God is asking me to be still. Be still, share my story with others, and expose my needs. Wait, what?
Be Still
I enjoy complex decision making. I enjoy deep thought and contemplation followed by swift and effective action. I am a doer.
Stillness, has never been a part of my practice. I have assessed and moved. I waited on no one and nothing. I am not afraid to put in work. Actually, I enjoy it. I enjoy feeling accomplished. Historically, the process of accomplishing isn’t my thing. Seeing results is.
I am an overcomer. I am a planner. I am not a bench player. I am on the court. I am in the action. I am getting things done. Not this time. My God who is able to do immeasurably more than I can think or imagine has asked me to sit and wait.
I believe that God wants to show me something and I wait in expectation. I am used to being self sufficient. Previously, I saw it as a strength. But our power is not as individuals, but as a community in Christ.
Share my story with others
A lot has happened in the last 7 years of my life. Through it all, I have grown immensely. Recently, I have given it over to God and I have experienced a freedom that too few people know. The greatest growth has been in my faith in understanding who God is and his plans for our lives. The life events and circumstances I find myself in are overwhelming when seen out of context. God places them in the right context.
Don’t get me wrong. I wrestle with this too frequently. When I focus on my problems or on myself, it gets ugly. Doubt, self-pity, and fear show up immediately to rob me of my peace and hope. God’s way is better. I have felt his peace. I want to be in alignment with his peace and will.
These problems do not define me. They will refine me. So I keep my focus on God and release my problems to him. Daily, in my stillness, I am finding reasons to be grateful and give thanks.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Expose my needs
This was really hard. This is really hard. At baseline, I share selectively. I have shared increasingly more over the past 7 years. Exposing my needs is even more unsettling. The things that I have shared recently, have really challenged me. .
God has a plan
I have had to be open to the ways in which God would bless my family through others. I set aside preconceptions and pride. In whatever form help has been offered, we are receiving it with open arms.
Being a resident of Self- Reliantville, ME, it is a very hard adjustment to make, but I have seen friends and strangers bless my family with their generosity in all things. More than the things they gave- they shared their heart. Beautiful to witness. So grateful!
This situation I am in is bigger than me. Together, in Christ, we can handle anything.
“In this world you will have trouble but take heart. I have overcome the world”
The last post I wrote was nearly two years ago. I have been grieving, slaying giants, raising champions, and growing in faith.