Stillness

Most of us have a problem being still - myself included.  We exist in a world that is constantly connected to everyone and everything all at the same time.  Noise and activity are the soundtracks to our lives.  Culture, both outside of and within the church body, often promotes both overtly and indirectly that every moment is a moment to be doing something.  We are led to believe that success and value are outcomes of action rather than presence.  

Stillness calls us to be.  Stillness allows space for us to take inventory of the moment we are in.  Stillness reminds us that we cannot manipulate or manufacture things outside of ourselves.  Stillness offers time for reflection.  Stillness invites us to appreciate the things that are going well in our lives and rest our bodies and minds.   

So what is our issue with stillness? 

Stillness reminds us that we don’t and can’t have all the answers.  It reminds us that God is God and we are not.  It reminds us that we cannot do life on our own - we need God and we need others.  It reminds us that we are forever a work in progress until we leave this earth.  It requires us to decide whether we will continue to pretend to be ok in unhealthy cycles while things continue to crumble or tap into the strength we’ve been given by the power of the Holy Spirit to do something different that will bring life and abundance.

Our Creator invites us to, “Be still and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10).”  When we are able to be still in the present moment we are able to encounter the presence of God.  We can acknowledge and surrender our inability to control circumstances to our will.  We can hear God invite us to step out of the cul-de-sac way of moving but going nowhere and step into the way of abundance that is waiting for us.  Our greatest example, Jesus, did not live a frenzied life but a full life.  He did not live to prove His worth but to remind us of ours.  The stillness He practiced manifested in His presence with others.  We have this same gift of stillness - a gift that will both affirm who we are and how we are called to be present with others.

- Katie Rivera