Be Still And Move On

Life these days is so frenetic that the concept of stillness is almost foreign. Technology has made life easier in many ways, but it often presents us with too many choices. How can I truly be still when I am bombarded with options and choices? Survival takes on a different set of choices in our age and cultures. Resting, being still, is a choice that encounters a lot of opposition.

The interesting thing about being still is that true stillness has little to do with what we are physically doing and more about our inner life, how and what we think about. I have not arrived! I want to be clear on that point, however, I have made progress. I am sure I will be in the progress process until I graduate to glory.

We seek and develop the stillness that is best found in our security as children of the mighty and perfectly loving God. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27:4-5 Finding and focusing our identity in relationship to the one who made us is the foundation to stillness.

Being still is not an end in itself.

We are all made to live out our unique talents, trainings and callings. Our relationship with God becomes our secure base. From there we move out into a world of people who are lost without Christ. Not everyone has the gift of evangelism, but we are all called to give an answer for our hope and to reflect our Creator though our abilities and character in our spheres of influence.

We do not live for ourselves. We live for the one who made us and redeemed us.

We move on, press on, go forward, following the will and the call of our Maker. Our Maker is not a hard-driving slave master, but rather a still small voice inviting us to be our authentic selves. Yes, there are challenges and sometimes failures, but nothing is lost in the process of our journey with the one who loves us most.  Often when others watch us fail, they learn more about us, and who our God is, than in our successes!

Abba, our hearts hunger for significance, but too often we live in fear. We want to be known, but have been hurt too often when we have risked being vulnerable. But You, You know us from before we were born and you know the choices we face every day. I choose to be still in your presence even as I move on. I choose to seek Your face more than Your hand. I cannot hide from you so I choose to go with You, because you have proven to know best. Thank you for calling us each by name. Grant us the courage to move on from here because your plans are not for fear and evil but for peace, a future and a hope. Amen