The Choice To Be Still

Year 8-Day 66: Today, I am grateful we can choose to be still.

Oh boy... some days the scriptures hit in the most sensitive and real places. On those days, there is a temptation to read on to something easier to reflect on instead of wading my way though the lesson to be learned.

Full disclosure post this morning. I am first born. I like to get things "right". I like people to like me. I relish leaving things better than I found them. I have tendencies to perfection in some endeavors, especially creative things. I can make myself crazy... and those around me who see through the calm facade. It is a constant battle. In fact, I like the challenge of doing hard things. My hard wiring is tightly strung. All of those character traits combined can create a battlefield filled with anxiety and stress.

I am so grateful for the truth in His Word. We don't have to fight one battle. Look at these three passages. I know there are more, but these fit well:

"They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” Jeremiah 1:19

"and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” -1 Samuel 17:47 

"The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” -Exodus 14:14

I have my plans and ways of preparing for each day, but the most important preparation is to take the time to "Be Still". It is a choice. Stillness is a learned behavior that reflect full trust in the God who has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. He is still writing our stories, until he calls to His side at last breath.

Why do I worry and fret? Look what Jesus said:

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" -Matthew 6:27 &  Luke 12:25

When two or three gospels record the same passage, pay attention. It means it is important. My communication degree taught me that a receiver typically has to hear something three times to make it stick.  Where is the third?

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" -Matthew 6:25

This morning, I smiled when I realized which two disciples recorded the anxiety prescriptions:
Matthew, the accountant and tax collector, knew money can be the source of much stress.
Luke, the physician, knew the toll that worry and stress can take on the body.

To be still is a prescription for anxiety. In the stillness, we learn to trust and find peace and calm. We can learn it at a beach, at sunrise on the farm, at sunset in the suburb and in a traffic jam on the the way to work. One of my life verses... "Be still and know I am God." -Psalm 46:10 

I have not perfected it. I keep working at it. He is faithful to let me take the test again and again.

Today, I am grateful we can choose to be still.