Be Still Series: An Introduction

 “Come rest your eyes on the King…Jesus our Heavenly King.”  These lyrics are filling my church’s sanctuary right now. Lights are dimmed, but the glow of Christmas Trees fills the front of this sacred space. The Chosen’s Christmas Special, The Messengers, is livestreaming for those who are yearning to focus on the true meaning of the season, and I’m sitting back by the sound board, putting the finishing touches on this week’s post. 

Today’s post will be the first in the Be Still series, a series which will take us into the New Year.  Fitting that as I begin to wrap up the first installment of the series I should be listening to “Come rest your eyes on the King…Jesus our Heavenly King.”  Don’t you think?  I love how God works like that. 

Over recent weeks I have had different versions of the same conversation with various friends.  These conversations are what prompted me to address the topics we are covering over the next few weeks together. “I just don’t know how to say, ‘No’,” said one.  “I am completely depleted,” said another.  As recently as this morning, I was rushing to not one but two gas stations before church because the first station was just like my car: practically out of gas and waiting to get more. 

Why do we let ourselves run so ragged? It’s clearly not God’s intention for us.  He could never want this lifestyle of perpetual exhaustion and restlessness for us, His children whom He delights so much in.  In fact, we know from David that our Almighty Father desires the complete opposite for us:

Be Still and Know I am God. 

Psalm 46:10_a

Be Still. This is not just a mere suggestion. It’s an imperative straight from the Lord, calling upon us to take up stillness as a part of our very being. This is more than acting still or desiring to be still, or thinking about being still.  It’s actually a state of being.  A state of being still. But how to we get there?

I don’t pretend to know all the answers, or even a fraction of the answers.  However, I do know what it is like to experience burnout and have nothing left for the people I should have the most for. I know what it’s like just going through the motions, too worn and defeated to even know I was worn and defeated.    

I know what it’s like to try and remedy this imbalance on my own.

Once I got clued in that my body was keeping the score, I knew some changes were in order.  I read the books.  I did the things (think yoga, breathwork, and other practices).  None of these are bad things! In many ways, they are quite helpful, especially when they promote self-healing. However, they won’t sustain us, and they shouldn’t be done apart from a larger framework defined and ordained by God.

I also do not pretend to live the most balanced life at all times. Nonetheless, by the grace of God, I also know what it’s like to surrender a worn-out body and mind to Him. This allowed Him, not I, to re-prioritize how I spend my time and who I spend it with. 

The Lord had a great deal of heart work to do within me (and he still does). That is not something anyone but God can do for you, and will only come from abiding in Him. That said, I also learned a lot along the path toward balanced living where the Lord is prioritized above all else. When doing so, believe it or not, I still had more than enough time and energy for anything which followed Him.

Over the next few weeks, as we turn our hearts and minds to the miraculous yet simple coming of our King incarnate, let us also seek out simplicity.  We will explore priorities, commitments and boundaries so that we may be obedient in Being Still.    In doing so we will be set free from what we were never intended to take on to begin with. Is there a bolder way to enter the new year than declaring that our time and priorities are His?  Don’t be fooled!  There’s boldness in the obedience and stillness. 

Pray:

Father God, Help me to slow down.  I am tired of doing things my own way.  Literally tired. Mentally tired.  Spiritually tired. At times, I have nothing left for my family, myself or you.  I know there must be another way. I know you desire me to be still.  Can you help me with that, please?  You are far wiser than I, and I seek to do your will! 

In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,

Amen.