being still

Psalm 46:10,

“Be Still and know that I am God.”

If Covid-19 has taught me anything, it’s taught me to rest. You and I can associate very different things with the word rest. In this season of being a mum with three little munchkins if someone tells me to rest…. sure, I’ll rest! My idea of rest is to take a holiday, on the beach or the lush green vineyards. Going to bed late, getting up late, with a great book in hand. Realistically we can’t be on holidays and physically resting all the time, so how do we find rest in everyday life?

One of my favourite words is intentional. Mind you, it hasn’t always been my favourite word… and some days I still struggle to love it. The word “intentional” means: done on purpose; deliberate. I have come to know all too well how much I need to be intentional and deliberate about everything in my world and that includes daily rest, whether it be physical rest, emotional rest or our spiritual rest.

John Maxwell says,
"You will never change your life unless you change something you do daily”

Over this season, God has really grabbed my attention in just being still and finding rest in Him. If I’m honest some days this can be easier than others, it has really been a funny old season! Nobody could predict a global pandemic would creep into 2020 but really, even before navigating this season I found it all too easy to hide in just ‘doing.’ I wasn’t content in being still, I would find it extremely uncomfortable and unknown territory.

Matthew 11:28 says,
“Come to Me, all who
labour and who are heavy
Burdened, AND
I will give you rest.” 

I don’t know what your automatic thought is when you read this scripture, but these are some incredibly powerful words that shifted my perspective and I believe that it can shift and shape yours if you allow them. There is absolutely no one in this world that can’t COME and find rest in Jesus. Jesus understands that at one point, or another humanity needs to recharge and that requires us to come and lay down whatever it is we are gripping onto.

To come to a place where we stop second-guessing, stop reminiscing, taking the pressure off and knowing that we are enough in simply being us.

Matthew 11:28 says to Come to Me

I’ve learned (probably one of the hardest ways) that when I just come as I am, there is incredible ease that pours and flows into everything. We trust more, we love more, our posture is strong and still. When we come just as we are, it’s then and only then, where we find true contentment with what we’re doing in the season we are in. But don’t be fooled being content does not mean that we need to be comfortable!

I’ve unearthed that to rest is to Trust

I think often times the most difficult thing is being able to trust that God provides, that He promotes. A lot of the time this way of thinking is not logical, it simply doesn’t make sense. I’ve wrestled to realise that it is God that promotes, not man. It says in Psalm 46:10, “Be Still and know that I am God.” In this passage, God is not just emphasising to just “be still” or to “rest”. God is saying to stop striving, stop fighting, and stop trying to do things on your own, in your own strength. I’m continually learning to be patient, be still, and let God go to work in and through me. Tess Quinery says, “Wild things happen in stillness.” I’ve found this to be true, that when I stop striving and lay down my agenda, my timing that’s when truly wild things happen! I have stepped into many awkward moments, had many detours and faced disappointments. Painful times, sometimes my own doing, sometimes not. I’m continually learning to have full confidence that the One who called me can be trusted.

Jeremiah 17:7 says,
“Blessed are those who
trust in the Lord and have
made the Lord their hope
and confidence.”

Luke 11:2-4 you’ll find the Lord’s prayer, it says in “Give us this day our daily bread…” This prayer is a prayer of dependency, a prayer that trusts that God is our provider, He is Jehovah Jireh. God is not just our provider of food and finances, but He is the God that heals and restores Jehovah Rapha.

 For a long time, - I thought that God only had leftovers for me, that there just wasn’t enough room at the table. I said that I trusted Him but to tell you the truth I really didn’t. It was a nice thing to say, the right thing to say. But if I could, I would take control of situations and I would make the plan… leaving God in the corner. But I’ve discovered that He certainly doesn’t give us desires just to tease us. He doesn’t play games, nor pass us by.

God has placed passions and desires and ignited dreams within our lives that don’t just die and fizzle out by having children, getting a job, growing older or being young. It’s only when I caught a glimpse of His heart for me and for people my thinking shifted, my perspective changed

No matter what you want to do, what you feel called to it’s actually not about you! In the book 'Without Rival' Lisa Bevere writes it perfectly “Our purpose in life is to reflect Him and your own concept of God and who He is in your life will be reflected ultimately in you."

I was personally challenged yet at the same time incredibly encouraged by this!! I had to stop and re-adjust my thinking where I needed to. Even though He chose me, anointed me, God is more concerned about who you are reflecting and who you are becoming than all that you are doing for him.

So, my question for you is what are you reflecting and who and what are you pointing to?

 To rest is to STAND
It’s so easy to become frustrated because although you are truly content you may have lost sight of the promises declared in your life.

What happens then?

Because you can’t stand and take a hold of what’s yours when there’s nothing to grab ahold of. I can only speak from my own experience, but I find all too often we need to take captive our emotions and thoughts and align them with the word of God.

The desires and promises that He has given me He speaks and confirms in His Word. I decided long ago that my conviction is stronger than my emotional state or my lack of confidence! Someone I really admire and look up too often says to just do it afraid! I’ve learned to do it afraid because at the end of the day it’s not about me or my feelings if I know Gods told me I’ll stand in the gap; I’ll be faithful, and I’ll keep going.

Psalms 37:4 says,
“Take delight in the LORD,
and He will give
you the desires of your
heart.”

I’ve come to know an overwhelming peace by laying down my own desires, my own will, for His. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy, but what I do know is that God is good. His timing is perfect and very rarely does it align with our own.

I’m constantly learning to be still and depend upon Him, it’s never an art form that is mastered but practised every day. I’m learning that where I am and who I am is enough. I know now that when we learn and practice the art of being still, we find our rest in Him.