There are certain places that just bring us peace. Recently I spent a time at two that always quiet my mind and sooth my stirring soul. One is a state park near our home where my husband and I walk and hike. A few weeks ago, he was training for a half marathon and while he ran at the park, I sat along the lake’s edge. I had packed a magazine to read and of course had my phone. However, on this particular evening, I chose to just sit. Sit and watch ripples appear on the water where fish came up to the surface. Sit and watch birds fly low above the surface. Sit and listen to the rustling leaves. Sit and feel the temperature drop engulfing me in a taste of Autumn.
A week later, I found myself on the campus of James Madison University for Family Weekend. JMU is the second most photographed place in VA (second only to Kings Dominion! LOL!). The main campus quad is surrounded by historical limestone buildings and is just beautiful. Wilson Hall, with its spectacular clock, mesmerizes me. I took a walk around campus at dusk and ended up on a bench on the quad. The sun had gone down; I listened as the Wilson Hall clock, bathed in purple, chimed eight. And I was overcome. A wave of stillness. A rushing of peace. Abundant gratitude that my daughter gets to call this amazing University home. And a knowing, to my depths, that this is where God called her. I knew, at that moment, I was not sitting alone on that bench. My Father had joined me.
I sat on that bench for an hour bathed in darkness. I realized that I need more stillness in my life. While it sounds contradictory, I get restless when I don’t have enough to do. I am wired to be busy. I love to do lists almost as much as I love crossing items off my to do lists. I have spent decades defining productive by worldly standards of accomplishment.
Sitting by the lake, listening to the chimes at Wilson Hall, God revealed to me a different definition of productive. A definition that is wrapped in quiet. One that is cloaked in stillness of the mind. One that requires abandoning my heart to the present. Giving my breath over to the moment. Trusting that in the quiet I will find God. And in these critical moments of stillness, I will hear HIS plan for my life. I will hear HIS desires for the gifts He’s given me. I will be filled with the knowledge that I am right where I need to be because I am where HE needs me to be. Still. Open. Available.
Psalm 46:10 tells us, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” Still is the Hebrew “rapa” meaning to hang limp, sink down, be feeble. It doesn’t mean to stop moving; it is more than that. It means to stop striving, stop fighting, relax. Think about being so exhausted that your body is just limp; you have no energy to support yourself. In these moments you rely on others to hold you up. God is calling us to be still and allow Him to hold us. Let Him set your path. Let Him use you for His glory that He would be exalted.
How often, in my attempt to get things done, have I focused on the wrong things? How many times have I been so intent on completing my check list that I haven’t even considered what God would have me do? Too often. Too many times. And how many opportunities to reach others for the Kingdom have I missed?
Stillness won’t look the same for you as it does for me. For you, it may be wrapping in the laughter of your children or grandchildren as you play with them. It may be exercising and praising him with beautiful music in your airpods. It may be meditating. It may be driving with no music on, no distractions. Just listening for the soft whisper of your Father.
God is teaching me that in stillness I find direction. In stillness I find hope. In stillness I find purpose. Real purpose. True purpose. The purpose for which He created me. And in that quiet stillness, God will use me for His glory. And I want nothing more.
So, I am seeking quiet moments. Moments where I go limp in the arms of my Father and listen with my heart for the desires of His. Seconds where I am present. Where my brain is no longer driving my thoughts, but instead rests in the peace of a plan already written.
The world wants to keep you busy. God wants to keep you close. Slow down, my friends. Take a deep breath – breath given to you from the Father Himself. Stop striving. Be still. Let Him show you that He is still – and always will be – God.
Thanks so much for the reminder!! Despite the large crowds, I’ve noticed in my attempt to follow Jesus more faithfully that He spent more time with fewer people – another conundrum worth paying attention to. Your pen is remarkable and inspiring – and for that, I’m grateful!
Thank you Carl. So Much!