Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
How still are you during your waking hours? I just heard a sermon by my Pastor Don Feuerbach about being still. Are you good at that? I’m not! My mind is always racing to the next thought. In fact, I tell people that my mind is a scary place. It can be overwhelming. I am a visual person. My ideas (or the ideas God gives me) appear all at once in a flash. It happens so fast that I have to record it or lose it. I see things quickly and sometimes things others don’t see yet. I have come to appreciate the gifts God has given me. That doesn’t mean they don’t scare me. But being still is difficult for me. I keep saying I want to take a day off but when I try to be idle, my mind races about things I could or should do. It is frustrating. When I’m busy, I want to relax. When I try to relax, I want to get busy.
How can we learn to be still? The Wall Street Journal has an article on Hurry Sickness. Why are we in such a hurry? Where are we going? Have you ever had someone race around you on the road only to have you pull up right behind them at the next traffic light? Albert Einstein said “There are only two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” If you go too fast, you won’t be able to see the miracles. Sometimes, when I wake up, I just watch my wife sleep and notice all the special things about her that God created. Have you ever taken the time to really look at a baby and see that miracle? Why wouldn’t you want to take time to smell the roses?
But how do we slow down? I have a wild and crazy idea. It came from some book called Exodus and it says “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy.” What a crazy thought. Pastor Don says busyness kills the soul. He also said love and hurry are incompatible. Do you think this Exodus story has some merit? What does it mean to remember the Sabbath day? Could you actually schedule time to be unscheduled? Do you have a category in Outlook named “Nothing”? Maybe you should create one. What if you put open time placeholders into your Outlook calendar called “Nothing” and set them to “Busy”? Would that fool you or others? Do you really need to fool yourself or would listening to God’s plan for us just be a good thing to do? I am sure there are other suggestions counselors and therapists may have but God’s word gave us the plan thousands of years ago. If we would just listen we would be so much better off. Below is a little exercise that comes from Psalm 46. Read it sloooooowlyyyyy and see if it works for you.
Be still, and know that I am God;
Be still, and know that I am
Be still, and know that I
Be still, and know
Be still,
Be
Lord, we thank You for Your Sabbath Day which was Your gift to us. Help us to bask in Your Peace and Grace one day a week as you planned. Let Your Spirit quiet the voices inside that scream hurry. Help us to just be! In Your name we pray. Amen!