Be Still

For the last two years God had the same word for me: seek Him. As 2012 drew to a close the word for 2013 changed to be still. I find comfort in distractions whether it is music or the television playing in the background. I don’t like complete silence even while reading or writing. My electronics are close by so while watching a movie or TV I am checking FB, email, IM or playing solitaire. I have used distractions most of my life to avoid hurt and intimacy. It has worked for me until now. Just the thought of being still unsettles me.

The Hebrew word for still is raphah; the root is to slacken. Used 45 times in the Old Testament, it is translated as lazy, cease, forsake, idle, weak or frail to name a few. Really? Sounds awful, and may I say, b-o-r-i-n-g to sit back and do nothing.

“Standing still seems passive. It is not. It is a posture of resolve and stamina. It will take all my strength to stand on His promise and command ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ It is in the stillness I see God” (Priscilla Shirer). I would add it is in the stillness I hear God.

When Tom and I were dating we were getting to know each other, but only on a certain level. It was not until we were married that we knew each other by experience. We had sweet intimate moments while we dated, though it was nothing compared to what we experienced as a couple united in marriage. We were now able to see who we really are, naked and not ashamed. Well not ashamed too much! This is how God knows me. Nothing about me is hidden from Him. Unless I am willing to set time aside for Him, to share intimate moments with Him as His Bride, and set aside what I want to allow Him to be I AM, then I will miss something He wants to do— that which is above and beyond all I could ever imagine.

2013 is a big year for me, it is my last year to say I’m in my 50s. In October I step into the next decade. According to the standards of the outside world I am on the down swing with nothing much more to contribute. God, on the other hand, has big plans for me if I will take to time to be still. He will use the most unlikely of us at the most unlikely times of our lives.

The Bible is full of people God used, not when they were young but when they were not so young: Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, to name a few. Caleb voiced it best in Joshua 14:11 “I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.” Caleb was eighty-five years old and he and Joshua were the only two who left Egypt who actually crossed into the Promised Land. They kept their focus and believed the promise of God despite the grumblings of those around them. Long before the words of Psalm 46:10 were penned, Caleb and Joshua stood on the promise and the command.

Choose this day who you will serve. I choose to serve the Lord.

Join me on this journey as I share the ups and downs of my 59^th year.

Originally posted on: My Purpose Now