The other day I was making my way through our local bookstore. As always, I stopped to peruse the Christian Living section. As I scanned the shelves, I felt bombarded with title after title telling me, no, it felt like shouting, they were shouting at me to to chase slow, to be present over perfect, to find joy in little, to throw out all my possessions because less really is more and so on and on and on and on…
And I love it. My soul eats it up because each of these titles speak to a longing in my heart to somehow find a satisfaction in my life that I am otherwise missing.
And I love these authors. I really do. I own many of those titles. I truly believe God uses writers to extend his truth to his people. Clearly I believe this, otherwise I wouldn’t be up at 5:00 AM writing this very article.
But what if I’m approaching these books with a “fix me” attitude? What if I took that hunger that was oozing from my heart and through my eyes at the book store and shifted it to my time with the Lord? What if I approached the Bible with more of a relationship attitude?
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I have this verse above our fireplace that I see every morning when I’m getting around to start the day, and I see it every night when Mike and I catch a quick show on TV.
be still and know
Almost every time I read it, my heart echoes the rest of the verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NKJV)
And lately, I feel like God is saying to me, “Stop being so busy waiting for the next thing, Gloryanna, and start being uncertain in life, but certain in Me. To be certain in me you have to be still.”
To be still means coming back to the foundation of what I know is true of the Lord and the only way I remember his foundation is by reading his word and praying with him.
It means I might have to look at my calendar less. It means I might have to be OK with that potty training regression because seriously, God is with me in that. Maybe it means you might have to accept what you can do within your job and what you can’t, and trust that God is there in the uncertainty of your job.
To know God means being OK with being unsure of what the next step is because we know he is there in the uncertainty.
I wonder if the more I press towards the Lord and the calling he has on my life, then the more life might start to slow down.
I wonder if the more I lay Biblical foundations in my heart, the more I will mature in new ways when the uncertainty comes. I will remember to lean not on my own understanding (or someone else’s) and trust in God first. If we reach for his word first instead of reaching for an answer on our phones, then maybe the days wouldn’t feel so long.
And maybe this constant reaching for his truth as the compass in our lives would make the years more memorable and lasting.
Next time you see that lady in the store and she’s telling you the days are long and the years are short, your eyes will soften and you can say, Thank you.
Because really, she’s just reminded you to be still and know.
Peace,
Glo
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This article originally appeared at GloryannnaBoge.com.
