He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”” Psalm 46:10 NIV
Remaining still while waiting is not passive, it is active. It takes a tremendous amount of restraint to be still in a culture that is moving at warp speed. Always in motion, busy, productive, consumed with instant results and gratification. The lie that our worth is found in what we do and not in who we are is repeated everywhere we turn.
Believing in the Gospel is counter intuitive. We have to continually swim upriver against the path of least resistance. Our worth is not found in “doing” but in becoming more like Christ. The power of His Resurrection working in and through us. Active, alive and moving. Restoring and healing the whole of our broken and battered lives.
It takes a great deal of faith to release the grip on control. To surrender ALL to the Author, Creator and Sustainer of life. The One who holds my life and the whole of this broken world in His hands. Trusting that in ALL things, God is working for the good of those who love Him. This act of surrendering, releasing control, it is a stream of continual and intentional choices that can only come when we still our hearts and believe that His plans are GREATER than our own.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NIV
When I quiet my heart and mind, I can hear Him whispering, revealing eternal truths through His Word. I am beginning to see a sliver, a mere fraction of how BIG God truly is. He in LIMITLESS and He is doing IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL I can ask or IMAGINE.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
In the stillness, I sense His movement. He is actively restoring and strengthening me for the road ahead. His unending love surrounding me. He is good in ALL things and He is good to ME. I am worth the ransom of His one and only Son’s life, Jesus. By grace ALONE, I am saved. Made worthy to lay it ALL down at His feet, my fears and burdens, insecurities and failures, plans and desires. The Lord is my portion, my everything.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:21-26 NIV
This active laying down, it is a daily battle, sometimes a moment by moment struggle against the powers of this world. Yet I know with certainty that I am not in this battle alone. He is fighting for me, for my family, for my future daughter. He is actively moving, making a way through that which seems impossible. I need only to be STILL.
This battle BELONGS to the LORD!
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 NIVSee, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19 NIVThe Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:14 NIV
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What a beautiful word to wake up to and read! It is a blessing for all of us to be on this journey with you, to see your heart, and be remind that we too have a journey with the Lord. He calls each one of us into seasons of action, but mostly He asks us to take these small faith steps and wait for His power to move in our lives. To God be the glory!
Heather, powerful reminder! Thank you for sharing these insightful words and scripture references.
Reminds me of some things I pulled from a video I watched of John Orberg at Granite Bay:
Romans 12:2… be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
“Prayer is not engineered, it’s you and God together.”
“We need to exercise our capacity to focus, un-aided! In our day, we rely on external stimulations to occupy our minds.”
“Solitude begins the cultivation of our minds to transform and renew it to be closer to God!”
“Solitude is the place where you begin, to find out about your mind.”
“Boredom is a fundamental necessity for the growth of your spiritual mind!”
Who could have imagined the wait would be so long? With all the needs of children for a loving home, only God could have known how long. Does he “get it”? Yes. Is he working? Yes! One day we will see his plans come to fruition and say “of course”! I have loved the Lamentations passage for a long time…He is my portion, I will wait. And I’m looking forward to the joy we will all share when your daughter comes home.