Lately, being still is hard for me. My emotions are running high and at times it is hard for me to settle down.
The devotional below shares about relaxing, trusting God to do His work in our every day lives, however painful. To know we can have the assurance to just be still and relax in His arms. I want to meditate on this, as I hope you do also:
As I sat in the dentist’s chair, I braced myself for the drilling that would begin my root canal. I was ready for the worst, and my body language and facial expression exposed my sense of dread. The dentist looked at me and smiled, saying, “It’s okay, Bill. Try to relax.”
That isn’t easy to do. It is actually very difficult to try (requiring effort and exertion) to relax (requiring an absence of effort and exertion). Try and relax just don’t seem to fit together—not only in the dentist’s chair, but in the spiritual realm as well.
Far too often I don’t limit my efforts of resistance to visits at the dentist’s office. In my relationship with Christ, I find myself not pressing for God’s purposes but for my own interests. In those moments, the hardest thing for me to do is “try to relax” and genuinely trust God for the outcome of life’s trials.
In Psalm 46:10, we read, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” In the moments when my heart is anxious, this verse reminds me to “be still, and know.”
Now, if I can only put that into practice and rest confidently in His care, I’ll be at peace.
Bill Crowder
Your not alone. Relxaing in Gods arms is hard. The times I've felt I'm in his arms are truly the most enjoyable. I pray for you to experience his love.
ReplyDeleteJBR...have you ever experienced moments of absolute quiet in your mind? I am going to assume that you have because you say right now being still is hard for you which indicates that you know what being still is like.
ReplyDeleteI am of the mind that once something is experienced in the mind, it is there waiting to be experienced again. We easily relive our pain right? We can just as easily recenter and refocus our minds to the quiet time and place as well. The pain embedded took time and practice to relive just as it takes practice to silence the runingonthoughtsthatneverseemtostop but you can do it because you have done it before.
Silently scream in your head and the noise will stop for a moment, take that moment and listen and as each noise appears simply stop it in it's tracks. With practice you can live in quiet within.
Be Well Kiddo.
I pray that you can be still more often, and hear His sweet voice. I love you my friend.
ReplyDeleteHey BeingReal, I totally get not being able to be still. I'm always moving. I exhaust myself and even exhaust my kids. Going to the dentist is the worst but you're post on being still and waiting on HIm is great. I need that. Praying for you. Sarah
ReplyDeleteJBR,
ReplyDeleteI love this passage! It reminds us to toss all our cares and worries into the hands of God and just live in the present.Like you, I need to remember to put it into practice :) We can trust Him...He knows all things. He loves us so much that He won't leave us unfinished if we place all our trust in Him. Praying for you.
I needed this today. My body needs rest, yet my mind is not complying. After meeting with a wonderful friend this morning...I am coming home and commit to resting my mind.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!
Right! Easy for the dentist to say, huh? :) The patient? Not so much! Okay, that was my attempt at humor. What'd ya think? On the serious side though, the more we "cast our care upon the Lord" the easier it will be for us to "relax".
ReplyDeletebeing still is THE hardest thing for me...
ReplyDeleteStilling an unruly mind can be a very difficult task.
ReplyDeleteSometime I'll blog my recent rocking chair experience. Quite by accident I found a way to calm myself and God slipped in when I wasn't expecting Him.
Love and prayers,
PG
I love it when you have just a line of scripture in your blog. I have not read the bible and have a hard time getting much out of long passages, but a line like that with an explanation is really helpful to me. I see the truth behind it. Whatever name you give God, the concept of "be still and know" is relevent.
ReplyDeleteOh, God! Be relaxed with Him is not he same as being relaxed with a dentist. I will never make it! LOL (doesn't mean that I don't like the analogy!)
ReplyDeleteOh, so true! I can't relax in either of them.
ReplyDelete