Be Still

Thoughts from a Shepherdess

Be still. I hear those words in my head when things get overwhelming. But the act of “being still” is a bit hard for me to achieve since I am so easily distracted and have more than enough to do with every single moment of my life. Sound familiar?

How can we be still when our to do list is longer than the amount of time (or energy) we have in a day? We can’t. It’s impossible. But we must. Right? Yet even Jesus went away from the crowd to be alone. To be still. Even though He had limitless energy, He went away to be still.

Perhaps He did it more as an example to us, perhaps His humanness drew Him to separate Himself from His to do list, to be refreshed — to gain new strength. Certainly if Someone had an overwhelming to do list it was Jesus.

Still, He was still. He made it a priority to be still. But in His stillness — when He drew apart from others — it was to talk to His Father. Though He knew he could easily accomplish everything on His to do list in a literal heartbeat, he paced his journey because He also knew being still was part of His to do list. The most important part.

And perhaps that’s why we can’t be still. Our priority is not to spend time apart from our endless to do list. Instead we immerse ourselves in that list until “it” becomes who we are. And our relationship with God becomes a distant second. — a brief prayer or hurried devotional reading, if even that. And we never even think to ask God what’s on His to do list for us each day.

Maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten that it’s God Who gives us our very life and the strength to get some of those things on our to do list finally crossed off. We have forgotten He is the Lord God and that we, simply put, are not.

Maybe, just maybe, if we would allow ourselves, perhaps even give ourselves permission to just be still, we would feel less pressured and driven to get that to do list done and gain more pleasure (and renewed strength) by just being still. In our Father God’s presence.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46: 10a

Jackie Deems copyright 2021