Beauty in the stillness ✨✨

 

It is practically impossible for me to sit in silence or embrace quietness. My mind always need a stimulant – either sound or sight or activity. I seek movement; I am at my best when I am working on a project. Moments of stillness make me irritable and restless. I seek for the next project. I am an enneagram 7 with wing 2. I believe that balances the craziness in both. Because of this personality trait, I am always looking for the next – the next project, the next book, the next song, the next chore. And when my mind is empty, the desire for the next draws me to unwanted territories. Colossians 3:2 says – ‘Set your mind on things above and not on earthly things’. The more I focused on this, the more it became clear that something about the seduction of the ‘next’ makes me miss the wisdom of now; the wisdom that could only be earned in His presence and by the strength of the Holy Spirit. When I am faced with a difficulty, I strive for an answer. I do everything in my capacity to get to the end of it that at times, I forget to slow down and be still in His presence. I forget to seek the Father’s heart in allowing this situation in my life. And in my haste, I forget to look within.

                         To ‘Be still’ means – not moving, being quiet. The word may sound soothing to many, but for me it is easier said than done. The scripture calls us to ‘Be still’ – Psalms 46:10 ‘and know that I am God’. I read it as ‘snap out of it’ ‘wake up’ ‘acknowledge who God is’ ‘be in awe’. Lately I am learning to allow the Holy spirit to take over and draw my mind towards His path; to fill my thoughts with The Word and to channel my energy into the power of The Word. There is a silence and stillness that should overtake us in the presence of God who is overwhelmingly holy and glorious. God’s goal in allowing certain seasons in our life is so He can accomplish the purpose for which He has placed us in a season. In this verse, He is reminding us who He is and what He can do. He knows how to calm my heart, ease my mind and guide my life in the right direction. What is required of me to accomplish this is to allow the stillness. To fill my ever-wandering mind with His word; remind myself about His promises and prophesy those into the future.

Does this mean in my day-to-day life I should take my hands off the wheel, kick back, take a nap, trust God to do everything? Not quite. My hands must stay on the wheel, on the laptop, in the laundry basket or on the spatula. Wherever my day finds me, I need to be fully engaged. I also need to be fully aware and willing to allow God to speak into my life and not be distracted in trying to fill the stillness with ‘noise’. When my human nature shouts, kicks and screams for activity, I would fill those gaps with His word, His promises and allow the gentle, soft voice of God to speak over me. In my desire to act, perform and move, I should lean on to hear God speaking, through a gentle whisper, a song, the voice of a loved one, a lesson from simple moments of daily life.. and as I sit still, take a walk, see a child playing in the sand, feel the wind blow, I stay rooted on His word and transform my mind to what the perfect will of God is over my life in this season. I stay focused, I stay active in obedience.

Written by: Anu Varghese