STILLNESS.
As I sat in a circle for worship, gathered around the fire surrounded by my teammates and some World Racers who spent this past week in Antigua, the word stillness kept coming to mind. I asked God what He wanted to say about it. We started singing ‘The Wick’ by Housefires (you should look it up if you haven’t heard it) and He immediately gave me the image of someone trying to start a fire, but it was so windy, it was a struggle. The flame wouldn’t catch. Then it got still, the wind stopped, the flame caught, and there was a fire.
How easy is it to get caught up in myself, my wants, my needs, my desires. I start living by the world’s standards and what my flesh says is good and I get beaten down, tossed around, worn out, and blown out (to go along with the flame theme!) I feel like I have nothing to give, nothing to offer, and I’m always wanting the next thing. Even in my quiet time with the Lord, I miss it sometimes. I miss Him completely and getting to just sit in His presence.
“Make the stillness of my presence your dwelling place“, I heard Him say.
How different everything becomes when my focus is shifted off of me, back to Him. When I get caught up with myself and the world and what people might think – fears, doubt, worry, thoughts of “I can’t do this”, they all come creeping in. But when I sit in the stillness of God, when I sit in His presence, when I rest in His perfect love for me, when I look at him and not myself, everything changes. The impossible is possible. The big dream that seems so far over my head is suddenly within reach. Where there is anxiousness and uncertainty, His sweet assurance comes and finds its way. When I feel weak and inadequate, His mighty strength comes sweeping in. When everything seems chaotic and unclear, His calmness and peace invades.
Suddenly, in that still place, everything becomes simple because I am walking hand in hand with my Father. Where He goes, I go. What He does, I do. What He says, I say. What he prays, I pray.
“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.“ Psalm 46:10
Cease striving. That goes completely against the current of today’s society. It’s so engraved in our brains to strive for more. Strive to be better. Strive for success. Strive for the pay raise. Strive to be independent. Strive for this, strive for that, more, more, more…it becomes all about us.
The more well known translation of this verse is “Be still and know that I am God…”
Cease striving and just be.
This is a whole new level of trust with the Lord that I am learning to walk in. Do you remember in my last blog how I talked about my need to guard and protect my own heart? Yeah, I’m still working on that, and oh man is the Lord walking me through this process of allowing Him to do this. It doesn’t mean be still and do nothing, but to be still and know that God is God, that He is sovereign, He is peace, He is wisdom, He is a promise maker and a promise keeper.
In other words, He is basically saying, shift your eyes back to me and acknowledge who I am in your life.
He is simply asking you and me to position ourselves to allow Him to be the Lord of our life. To be our father, provider, our dwelling place. To be our comforter, our counselor, our protector. He so deeply desires to be the King of our heart and the love of our life.
And in the light of who He is, suddenly you see and feel this burden that you’ve been carrying for so long. Striving for more, trying to prove to be somebody, when all along the Lord has been walking right next to you saying, I see you, I care for you, I love you, let me carry this for you. And finally, you let Him.
He whispers to us over and over, “Let the stillness of my presence be your dwelling place.” It’s in His presence that we become more like Him. His compassion, His love, His words, His peace, His comfort, His joy, they become who we are. And when we walk in His presence, we can’t help but see the world through His eyes.
So go ahead, sit in the stillness and let His flame catch fire in the very depths of your heart. Let go and let Him hold you. Stop trying to prove that you are somebody, you are somebody. You don’t have to prove that you are worthy, you are worthy. Let who He is become who you are.
“My heart is the wick, Your love is the flame, and I wanna burn for your name.”
