Strength & Stillness
Hello friends and welcome back to the blog! Currently it’s about 11:30 at night and I have to get up in 4 hours to fly back home from vacation, but this topic was on my heart and it just couldn’t wait until the morning! I am going to be talking about strength and stillness, and the two parts to that. I have had many times in my life where i have needed to be still and let God guide me, but I have either felt that it was unimportant compared to other things I could be doing instead or I felt that it was too much work and too hard to hear the Lord’s voice. Well, I am here to tell you that being still takes the kind of strength that we don’t have, but luckily we know Someone who does.. So, let's jump right into it! Here are the two parts of strength and stillness and how they go together:
Having the strength to be still:
Well, strength is usually thought of as something active that you do. You are strong as you are lifting weights, or carrying groceries up from the car, or even something like actively fighting against temptation is a strong thing to do. So, to say that it takes strength to be still and seemingly do nothing sounds kind of contradictory, right? Well, i’m here to tell you that being still does not equal doing nothing. Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.” That kind of being still is not doing nothing, but instead, it is active surrender. It is the choice everyday to wake up and put your situation and your struggles in the hands of the One who says that it is His job to take care of it, not yours. Being still also often involves listening, too. And that takes a huge amount of strength. Pray and ask God to quiet your own thoughts and replace them with His desires. If you see being still as being inactive, then you will see being still as being unimportant and unnecessary. BUT, if you allow the Lord to shift your perspective, He will show you that being still is a whole lot of work, and something that requires a whole lot of strength that you can only get from Him.
The second part is having the strength to obey what you heard in the stillness:
Okay, so you were still. Your thoughts were quieted and you heard the Lord speak. Now what?! Well now it’s time to act. It’s time to obey. This is the second part of the strength. The strength to follow through with what you heard. Maybe God called you to do something, talk to someone, create something, or maybe He said to keep being still and doing what you're doing. Now it’s time for even more strength. Ask the Lord for strength to complete the task and run the race that He has set before you. Don’t be afraid and don’t hesitate to ask God for His strength to complete the tasks that He gave you. Just because God instructed you to do something does not mean that He turned you loose and is expecting you to do it all on your own now. In fact, He knows you can't. He knows the only way you’ll get through it is with Him, so ask Him for His strength! He is eagerly waiting to give it to you.
So there you go! Have the strength to be still and know that it is not unimportant or a waste of time, and then have the strength to obey what you heard in the stillness. If I could emphasize one thing it would be that you don’t have what it takes to get through this (I know, what a great pep talk!). But God does. He’s got you in the palm of His hand and He knows what He is doing. He knows He has the strength that you need to walk through what He called you to. You just have to ask Him for it.
Lord, help me to be still and listen to You. Help me to realize that stillness is an opportunity to hear your instruction, not a waste of time, and that being still does not mean doing nothing. Lord, I ask for your strength to help me obey what I heard you say to me in the stillness. Thank you that I don’t have what it takes, but You do. Help me to seek you daily, coming to your throne, and asking you to fill me up with all I need to walk through that day. In Jesus' name, Amen.
