Being Still In The Lord - For Those Who Prefer Action
by Cate Russell-Cole Updated January 2017: This article has been affected by a coding glitch. My only other option is to re-upload, but that will affect long-standing embedded links to it. Please accept my apologies for the big gaps.
Stillness is not my natural habitat. I like to get things done. I prefer neat, timely answers and something that I can actually, physically do, to get to wherever I need to go. So the idea of being still before the Lord and waiting for His reply, healing, or deliverance is not a comfortable one for me. I am more like the prophet Jeremiah when he said, "My heart, my heart--I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still..." Jeremiah 4:19a But Scripture clearly says: "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14 and in the sons of Korah's words: "Be still and know that I am God!" Psalm 46:10a Stillness is a spiritual trait we are encouraged to pursue. Being still, means you are not controlling God, or your circumstances; you are stopping and allowing God to be in control. That will always bring the most perfect results, but it is oh, so very, very hard to do. God won many battles for Isra'el. There were times when the people had to take up arms and fight with the Lord's active backing, but there were other times when they had to wait on God to do all the work. Nothing has changed. Being still with your focus remaining resolutely on the Lord, continues to be one of the most powerful weapons in our spiritual arsenal. "I wait quietly before God, David then emphasises again: This is an important point that David is trying to get across. David was a man of action too. He was an excellent planner and an outstanding warrior. He'd learnt to wait for deliverance in his own life, and knew that deliverance does indeed eventually come. The frustrating, annoying, pivotal piece of the puzzle, that often seemed to be malfunctioning, was the timing of the help. Deliverance can never turn up fast enough! That doesn't just apply to David, but to us as well. However, until the Lord has worked in the background to accomplish the best possible outcome, wait, we will. It's the only way. We have to trust God. He knows what He's doing. This is a song that David wrote for pilgrims who would be visiting the new temple in Jerusalem, once Solomon had built it. Again, he is emphasising the need for letting God be in control: not people. It puts things into perspective. God sees every aspect of every trial we face, whereas we only see one side. Leaving the decision making to Him is a wise move. "LORD, my heart is not proud; So if you feel that the Lord is telling you to be still, or if you need to be at peace in a long waiting period, here are practical suggestions on how to wait in stillness. - Don't retaliate verbally, or in kind, (whatever the offence was.) Remember that it's alright to get upset when waiting for an answer. The Word of God encourages us to show God our emotions, and you wouldn't be human if you didn't feel scared, hurt or worried. [Ref. Lamentations 2:19 and 1 Peter 5:7] It can be frustrating; David suffered the same way. Just let stress lead you back to dependence on God, not into taking matters into your own hands and blaming the Lord. REFERENCES *Lyric source: "Songs in the Night" by Matt Redman, off his album, Unbroken Praise, Words and Music by Jason Ingram, Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman © 2015
Battles the Lord won / engineered for Isra'el. Battles Won for Judah ~ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fromdespairtodeliverance This article by Cate Russell-Cole is under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Written in Australian English. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |
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