Be Still My Soul

To-lists are never-ending. The busyness of life rarely settles down or gives us permission to settle in. Just when it feels like we’ve finally tackled one growing pile of responsibilities, another pile multiplies beside the first. Chaos is hardly ever planned and always arrives at the most inconvenient times. Quieting our minds as our thoughts run rampant is a constant battle we’re prone to losing.

Though it can be hard to find places in our days that give us rest, refill our cups, and silence our fears– there is everlasting tranquility to be found in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

In Him, 

we find calm in the calamity.

we find order in the disarray.

we find a foothold before the fall.
we find stillness during our storms.

we find quiet from the noise employed to distract us.

I used to think stillness was unproductive. I believed that if I wasn’t constantly moving, I wasn’t doing enough. Our culture tends to congratulate the fast pace we’re always running towards and rejects the idea of staying in the same place for too long. We live in a country where most of our needs can be instantly met. Why wait for something when there are expedited shipping options and same-day delivery services?

We’ve become so accustomed to our rapid-moving culture we’ve lost the art of slowing down. Being still. Having to wait. We’ve become uncomfortable in the silence. We’ve become strangers to moments of serenity.

At this point in my life, there are still a few areas I expected to progress more than they have. So, if God has designated stillness in that aspect of my life, it’s only fair for me to appreciate the gift that stillness brings.

Sometimes, God will keep us in a place longer than we want in order to slow us down so He can show us something. Because when I’m moving fast, everything appears blurry. It’s hard to focus. It’s difficult to stay centered and grounded when the ground is moving beneath me. 

But when we invite stillness in to stay, we also allow introspection, clarity, and peace to stay, too. God gives us moments to reflect on how we got to this place so we can be intentional with where we’re going.

To fully abide in God, there are:

Habits that need to be released.

Patterns that we can’t afford to repeat. 

Limiting mindsets that need to be rewired. 

New ways of thinking that have to be adopted.

We must be willing to uproot what no longer serves us to walk in closer alignment with the Father. To be able to distinguish and discern what we need to eradicate from our lives and what we need to elevate, there must be time set aside to receive that wisdom. 

In Psalm 62:5, David writes, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.” 

God is still moving even when it feels like we aren’t. Our hope should be tethered to God’s consistency with His promises and their perfect timing. He’s never left us in an undesirable place without it being part of His grander plan.

When we read the story of Moses parting the Red Sea in Exodus 14, we see the portrayal of God’s unlimited power. It’s comforting to know that the Lord we serve controls the seas and the storms. He makes a way where there are none to the human eye. Right before God instructed Moses to lift his rod and stretch his hand out to the sea, Moses told the children of Israel, “Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

There are two pieces of what Moses said here that I want to pull out. He tells God’s people who are afraid to “stand still.” He doesn’t command them to fight back or to retreat but to remain in place. As the army of Egyptians closed in on the children of Isreal, the Red Sea stood on the other, threatening to take anyone who dared try to cross it. It may have felt like a death sentence to stand there and do nothing, but they had the unparalleled power of God on their side.

The other part of Moses’ instruction to the Israelites was that they were to “hold their peace” as the Lord fought for them. In other words, they were to be quiet because their strength didn’t come from complaining or manifest from strategizing over a battle plan. Their power lay strictly in the hands of God (or, in this story, the hand of Moses through which God allowed for the miracle to occur).

Isn’t it beautiful to see what God can do with our stillness? With our obedience? With our willingness to trust in Him? Even though the children of Isreal had a hard time not romanticizing their life in Egypt and reminiscing on the days before wandering in the wilderness, God still had mercy on them to bring them to a place He knew would be better. God still blessed them because of his promise to Abraham.

There will always be seasons of life where movement is required, and we must keep pushing forward. It’s natural for our instincts to look for ways to remove ourselves from the chaos or fight our own battles. Choosing stillness may seem counterintuitive when we’re surrounded. But it is precisely in these moments that we can witness the consistency of God’s character and learn to abide in His presence. So, in the moments where stillness feels like it’s the last thing we should do, choose to remain and trust anyway. This is where God reveals His character to His children.

In Psalm 46:10, the well-known verse reads, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

I’ve found that I hear God’s voice the most in my moments of solitude. After losing my job, I was forced to slow down. And although I didn’t want to at the time, it was the most life-giving, eye-opening, abiding season I’ve ever walked through. I learned that I’ve been given the power to surrender. And it’s my earthly surrender that brings the power of God to my every battle.

Beyond what stillness can unlock for our spiritual lives, it also reminds us to practice gratitude for what we’ve already received. The gifts that God has already graciously given to us. And just because our gift doesn’t look like someone else’s doesn’t mean it’s void of meaning.

Patience is a gift for those who are waiting.
Comfort is a gift for those who are restless.

Security is a gift for those who are uncertain.

Even if life isn’t happening in the way we thought, life is still happening. And that’s the first gift we’ve ever received– the gift of life.

I don’t run away from stillness anymore. I run towards it. Because that’s where I meet my Heavenly Father– It’s in my earthly silence that I can hear His perfect voice. In my aloneness with Him, I find my purpose for living.