“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  Exodus 14:14

“Be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:10

“The Lord your God who is going before you will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 1:30

 When God puts His Word in front of you again and again, you come to realize He might be sending you a message.

When God puts people in your path whose message to you mirrors that of the Bible verses God is sending you, you come to realize He possibly is sending you a message.

When the books you read, blogs you scan, comments your friends make, prayers lifted up on your behalf all flow the same direction, you come to realize….

HE might be sending you a message.

I don’t know why I am so slow at getting His message.  This is a flaw in my DNA which frustrates me to no end.  I am like Paul,  that which I don’t want to be like is how I am and how I want to be is how I am not.

Frustrating.

Heartbreaking.

I am learning that life is not so much about what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you.  It is our reaction in which our faith and surety and Godliness is observed. Intellectually, I have known this most of my life, but in action, I have failed to live out its truth.

No one is perfect.  Life can overwhelm.  Pain can devastate. Poor decisions can alter.  Hidden secrets can maim.

But, we all have a choice in how to respond and where we respond and when we respond to life’s challenges.

I am starting to wonder…

Is there a time God calls us NOT to respond?

To be still….to be quiet…to let Him handle whatever is in our path.

Obviously, there is or the scriptures above would not have been given to us so many years ago.

But, how does one know when to use those particular scripture and not others, which direct you to go and address an issue, a matter, a hurt, an obstacle?

My children and I have been discussing this a lot lately and inevitably, as quickly as our discussion ends, one of the above passages is delivered to my door, or my daily reading, or my Ipad, or via someone’s words to me.

So, we have shared this thought with one another…

What if we just

Be

Still

What if, rather than” taking up arms against a sea of troubles”, we just were still?

What if, rather than “going to the mattress”, we laid low?

What if, rather than taking on things in our human capacity, we gave them over to God and let Him handle them in His spiritual capacity?

And, why is that so hard to do?

What is it about our human-ness that makes us feel we must rush in and “fix” everything?  Some things are such that only God can fix, so our efforts are fruitless and frustrating.  There is a reason for that.  GOD may be teaching us that HE is in control and we are not, regardless of whether we give over our lives to Him or not.

He may be teaching us that IF we give over our control to Him, things will work out “better than we can hope or imagine.”  That, if we “wait upon the Lord”, we are waiting upon the only one who sees the whole picture and who can perfectly fix “it”.

And, while I am apparently a slow practicing student of this concept, I am learning…

As I am growing older, I am realizing that I am growing closer to God.  Not just spiritually, but also physically.  That sooner than later, I will have all the answers to all the questions about all the issues of my life.

For some reason, that makes waiting on Him simpler.

So, when things, people, issues come across my path, which I do not understand, fail to comprehend, am hurt by or even challenged by, I have more ability to lay it at His feet rather than rush on my feet to “fix it”.

And, in that I am finding much peace.

In fact, waiting on him is bringing forth many things to my life…I am not fully mature in these areas; I don’t know that I ever will be, but I am at least growing in the direction of…..

Peace of mind

Not saying things I later regret and for which I have to apologize

Giving myself ample opportunity to “see the other side” of a matter

Not allowing other’s opinions to become my own

Removing the need to judge and refusing the judgment of those other than God

Refusing to be a victim

Keeping those who would hurt me at a distance rather than opening the door to their meanness

Being a giver of grace as has been given to me

Forgiving.  Regardless.

Leaning first on God, and letting Him guide me through

Loving. Loving. Loving.

And, the list grows and grows…

And, the need for the list grows and grows…

In my humanity, I have come to realize that life is a journey of which I will never fully be developed.  The more I live, the greater the depth of my humility.  The larger the number given to my age, the smaller the need to believe I know it all.  I am still wrought with opinion.  I am still bound by bias and ignorance.  I fail to be wholly that which I wish I could be.  But, there is a difference…

Instead of pursing that perfection from a humanly standpoint, I am striving to give over my imperfection to the only One who can give me worth.

Him.

And, in so-doing, I am living according to a new time-table.

His.

And, striving to heed His Message.

to Be Still..... 

Blessings,

Lesa