What I find in the stillness.
It's the end of a long work day. my eye lids are heavy, my back and feet ache. My mind is still racing with all of the things that took place over my day, while still calculating all of the things that still need to be done…
I am so thankful that I talk with my God, and spend time with him, anywhere. Anytime. He hears my prayers while I'm in the shower, still half asleep. He listens when I mumble out small praises to him in between Luke Bryan and Lady antebellum songs playing on my pandora, as I sit and put on my makeup. He loves the way I belt out praises to him in the car, flying sixty miles per hour, on my drive to work. He loves it when I pray like I'm consistently in a conversation with him, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of my day.
But I was created for more.
It's getting late, and I was temped to crash on the couch, snuggled up with my favorite book until bedtime. But I felt him calling me to come and sit with him outside.(*sigh. Lets just take a second and dwell on how amazing that in itself is…) So I wandered down the stairs in my backyard. Down to the beach, and out onto the dock, over looking the lake. To sit with the creator of the world. I got so giggly just walking there. Because I knew that he'd meet me there…
You know, God is always on this crazy pursuit for our hearts. His love is relentless. His grace is sufficient. His glory is never ending! So why? Why is it so crazy difficult for us to carve time out of our "all important schedules" to simply sit and be with the creator of the universe??? I don't get it… What on earth could be more important? More eternal?
You see though, God has to be pursued in return. He requires all of us.
"Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and all of your soul and with all of your mind…" Matthew 22:37
I find Jesus in the stillness. And the beauty of it is, I don't have to do a thing. I just sit. You see, there is a difference between striving, and seeking.I don't believe that there is any striving in the kingdom of God.
The bible says: I will bring him near and he will be close to me, for who is he that will devote himself to be close with me? So you will be mine, and I will be yours. Jeremiah 30:21
It also says: Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:13-14
My life had completely changed when I regularly disciplined myself to just sit and spent time with Jesus. I didn't read my bible during this time. I didn't play worship music, or write in my journal.
I just sat. I sat in the presence of God Almighty.
I embraced the awkward, and quieted my mind. I made him my first priority. I began truly seeking him…Sitting quickly turned into knelling, and knelling quickly turned into face down on the ground. As he began to reveal to me his majestic Glory. His never failing love, and his beauty. He began to pour into my heart, spirit and soul. He poured words of life over me. He satisfied me in ways I never imagined. It's there that he begins to speak to us. It's there we learn the sound of his voice. It's there we discover his freedom. I began to understand what the Psalmist were talking about when they wrote things like
"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand". -Psalm 16:11,
" I run in the path of your commands, for you have made my heart free." -Psalm 119:32
"Splendor and majesty are before him: Strength and glory are in his sanctuary" -Psalm 96:6
So, my dear friends, I challenge you. Stop the glorification of "busy" and start Glorifying Him with the way we devote our time. Stop over complicating it. Just simply be with Him. Let's discipline ourselves to sit at the feet of God almighty. Find Jesus in the stillness.
