Resisting Stillness

May 25, 2021 by  
Filed under Daily Devotions, Worship

By Rosemary Flaaten –

I felt the blood draining out of my legs as they dangled over the hard wooden pew. Confined to my limited square footage, I simply wanted to wiggle and squirm in an attempt to find a spot where my bottom could feel some reprieve, but instead my mother’s strong hand rested on my knee as a means of quieting my movement. Sitting still in church was a requirement, but seemingly next to impossible for me as five year old.

Roll forward forty years—I still find it hard to sit quietly. All my kids had flown the coup leaving an empty nest. There were no mounds of dirty laundry to wash and sort. There were no groceries to replenish. There were no slamming doors or buzzing cell phones. The house was quiet. Life was still.

But my soul was not.

The passage “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV) always makes me squirm. I am a doer. I like to accomplish things and prefer the verse “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26 NKV). But how can I reconcile my physical need for action with my spiritual need for stillness? They seem to be at odds with each other.

I am learning that when I discipline myself to sit quietly in the presence of God, He quiets my spirit, allowing my mind, heart and soul to breathe deeply, slowing the frenetic pace of my mental acrobats. I experience the truth of Psalm 131:2 “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (NIV). The gentle hand of my Father rests on my knee, not to chastise me, but to say “Be still. I want to fill you with my love, peace and direction, but its next to impossible to fill a moving vessel. Be still and know Me.”

I am still not good at sitting and doing nothing, but I now relish the quiet moments of each day, when I can soak up the presence of my Heavenly Father. It is from that place of quietness and stillness that I am rejuvenated in spirit and become ready to take on the world.

PRAYER: Father, calm my thoughts and banish my worries. Help me to experience the reality of Your love and approval as I sit and soak up Your presence.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” (Psalm 23:2 NIV).

About Rosemary Flaaten

As a dynamic speaker and an award winning author of "A Woman and Her Relationships" and "A Woman and Her Workplace" , Rosemary Flaaten's passion is to see people deepen their relationship with God and others. She lives in Calgary, Canada.
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Comments

2 Responses to “Resisting Stillness”
  1. Hally Franz says:

    I can relate, Rosemary. Sometimes, we confuse productivity with movement, and that is not always the way things are. Our quiet time, when we take it, can make all the other things we do more meaningful.

  2. Abby Lewis says:

    Great stuff. I love the transparency of your heart. My life’s work is to passionately encourage others to experience transformation of spirit, mind and body by learning to practice “living still.”

    Living still is not adopting a life of inactivity or solitude; rather, it is choosing to live in tune with the voice of God in the midst of the inevitable noise around us. Living still is recognizing that without God, we cannot experience the fullness of life. It is choosing to trust God more than we trust ourselves. Living still is learning to rest in God’s perfect love for us. It is taking the time to listen to His still, small voice with the expectation that He will lovingly guide us, one step at a time, toward freedom. The practice of living still works. Learning to live this way delivered me from the pit and continues to transform my life each day. And, I am confident that living still can change your life too.

    Be Love, Give Love,
    Abby Lewis

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