The Perspective Project Day Thirty Four: Still

I am not very good at sitting still.

I am a fixer and when I see a problem or have a problem… I want to do something about it.

There have been a handful of times in my life that I have found myself in situations that I had felt like I had ZERO ability to do something to impact the outcome.  This situation that we are dealing with right now has been one of them… and by far the hardest one.

There have been times in our current struggle that I felt totally helpless and powerless to “fix” our problems and have become so frustrated by them that I simply want to scream… (and sometimes do).

However, at about the halfway mark of this 40 day journey to share the lessons that I am learning as we walk through this dark time… God shared a powerful truth with me.  I have waited until know to share it with you- because it has taken me many weeks to allow God to change my heart and my mind around this new powerful perspective.

You ready for it?

All God needs from me is to be still and allow him to work. 

I know that this may not seem like a profound truth to many of you but it was to me. 

I was doing my quiet time one day and as I was reading God’s word I felt such a sense of peace that I lost myself in that moment and briefly forgot about the struggles that we are facing.  In that moment I was so wrapped up in the amazing attributes  of God and his works that I did not feel depressed, angry, frustrated, or sad.

When I was finishing my time with God I read Psalm 46:10

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

In that moment, I felt like he spoke to my heart and said in a still small voice, “This is all I need you to do.”

This was the moment where I realized that God did not want my help… he wanted my trust that he could and would move in our circumstances.

It was a beautiful light bulb moment when I finally could see that all God needs from me in this troubling time is to be still and watch him fulfill his promises to me.

One of the things that amazed me the most is that when I was able to be still in his presence — I could hear the still soft voice of my Heavenly Father so much clearer than ever before.

I am not going to pretend that it was easy to change my “Little Ms. Fix It” mentality. Learning to be still and trust God has been one of the hardest perspectives that I have struggled with on this journey for two reasons:

1. I had to rewire my natural reactions and responses.  For example, instead of picking up the phone- I would first call out to God for direction and discernment.  I had to learn to be still in my words and actions until I heard that guidance and could move in the ways that he wanted me to.

2.  In the stillness God revealed some tough perspectives to me that I will be sharing as the conclusion of these posts.  It took me being still and slowing down to listen to the loving voice of my Heavenly Father asking me to do some hard things that I know will not be easy but are necessary to move forward with him.

I love this song by Hillsong… it is a great reminder of this powerful truth that God is teaching me still.

I invite you to travel with me on this 40 day journey as I seek to find and share perspective in our pain. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or by subscribing to the blog. Feel free to also catch up on the previous posts in this series by clicking here.

Today, I would love to hear your thoughts about the struggle to be still and allow God to work in our troubling times-please feel free to leave a comment below.