"The summer doesn't have to always be about accomplishing a million things.
It can also be about rest and relaxing and being still." -JO
A friend of mine told me this phrase when I was feeling restless and disappointed about not getting much done today and fearing my whole summer would turn out like this. Her words of wisdom rang true in my ears, as they so often have done in past conversations. Have you ever had a friend that was so real that when they spoke you felt as if they just read your mind and your struggles but then you realized that it was God using them to knock you over the head? That is the truth my friend has shared with me so many times. These words are only half of what I feel God has been trying to get my stubborn brain to recognize. "Be still and know that I am God." Ps 46:10 NIV is the verse that ring through my head through my friend's honest heart and words.
These words above don't have as much impact on a person who does not understand a background with the voice I hear when I read those words. JO has one of those voices that is soft and quiet. That beautiful voice our Lord gave her is the voice that shouts in my ear when no other sound seems to get through. You see I like to talk- big surprise I'm sure- and I can be loud. I sing loud, talk loudly and can throw my voice over a crowd better than some men. But this trait of mine, which is a good thing, can get me into trouble with personal intimacy within my relationships, including my relationship with my God and Savior Jesus.
The problem is I don't stop talking. I use up so many words during my "quiet time" that I don't even feel like I had any quiet. Now I'm not saying that a quiet time has to be sober or silent (I'll touch on my ideas for a quiet time another time.) but there should be a time of reflection and a moment where the Lord gets to talk too. Briefly, a quiet time is like hanging out with your best friend through shared conversation, learning and growth. Not much shared if I just sit and read a little Bible, pray- ie talk to God, then talk more through journal or song. When is it God's turn to talk? Mine to listen? And mine to learn from Him?
I carry this same talkative manner into my friendships and into my daily activities. Do, do, do, go, go, go, check, check, check, down my check list. Thinking that is what a "good" person does. If I get things done then great! If not, I fail. Whoa, that's a lot of pressure I've put on myself. Also where's the intimacy or closeness with others? How many friends truly stick around for long when they can't get a word in? I know, logically, I need to change this, to slow down and put my talkative guard down, like JO said, "rest, relax and being still," but that is hard to do. I don't realize I'm doing it until I see the friend less and less or their backside through the door. Fear of failing and fear of rejection get the best of me. Then the next thing I know I've held down the entire conversation and caused my own fear to come true. Urgh Have you ever done that?
So you can see how beautifully perfect it is that God would, unknowingly to her, use a soft spoken woman, just being herself, to get my attention. God gives me a glimpse of heaven: a piece of his "still small voice" in the voice of my friend (and in her current word of wisdom spoken today). Better than shouted in my ear it is whispered to me in such a way that I MUST stop talking in order to hear... because Lord do I want to hear. I MUST put down my fear and guard and let my Lord in (which means letting others know the real me no matter if they reject me or not.) My attention is drawn and again I am reminded the my God IS I AM so be still. [shhh] be still.
Do you need to remember to be still? Do need to learn the same lesson I am learning: to let God do some of the talking in your relationship with him? Do you need to let go of fear and take a step of faith to trust God more regardless of rejection? Maybe you need to give yourself permission to "rest, relax and be still" for a time? Or maybe you just need to open your heart to being real and honest so God can use your voice to speak truth to someone else.
It can also be about rest and relaxing and being still." -JO
A friend of mine told me this phrase when I was feeling restless and disappointed about not getting much done today and fearing my whole summer would turn out like this. Her words of wisdom rang true in my ears, as they so often have done in past conversations. Have you ever had a friend that was so real that when they spoke you felt as if they just read your mind and your struggles but then you realized that it was God using them to knock you over the head? That is the truth my friend has shared with me so many times. These words are only half of what I feel God has been trying to get my stubborn brain to recognize. "Be still and know that I am God." Ps 46:10 NIV is the verse that ring through my head through my friend's honest heart and words.
These words above don't have as much impact on a person who does not understand a background with the voice I hear when I read those words. JO has one of those voices that is soft and quiet. That beautiful voice our Lord gave her is the voice that shouts in my ear when no other sound seems to get through. You see I like to talk- big surprise I'm sure- and I can be loud. I sing loud, talk loudly and can throw my voice over a crowd better than some men. But this trait of mine, which is a good thing, can get me into trouble with personal intimacy within my relationships, including my relationship with my God and Savior Jesus.
The problem is I don't stop talking. I use up so many words during my "quiet time" that I don't even feel like I had any quiet. Now I'm not saying that a quiet time has to be sober or silent (I'll touch on my ideas for a quiet time another time.) but there should be a time of reflection and a moment where the Lord gets to talk too. Briefly, a quiet time is like hanging out with your best friend through shared conversation, learning and growth. Not much shared if I just sit and read a little Bible, pray- ie talk to God, then talk more through journal or song. When is it God's turn to talk? Mine to listen? And mine to learn from Him?
I carry this same talkative manner into my friendships and into my daily activities. Do, do, do, go, go, go, check, check, check, down my check list. Thinking that is what a "good" person does. If I get things done then great! If not, I fail. Whoa, that's a lot of pressure I've put on myself. Also where's the intimacy or closeness with others? How many friends truly stick around for long when they can't get a word in? I know, logically, I need to change this, to slow down and put my talkative guard down, like JO said, "rest, relax and being still," but that is hard to do. I don't realize I'm doing it until I see the friend less and less or their backside through the door. Fear of failing and fear of rejection get the best of me. Then the next thing I know I've held down the entire conversation and caused my own fear to come true. Urgh Have you ever done that?
So you can see how beautifully perfect it is that God would, unknowingly to her, use a soft spoken woman, just being herself, to get my attention. God gives me a glimpse of heaven: a piece of his "still small voice" in the voice of my friend (and in her current word of wisdom spoken today). Better than shouted in my ear it is whispered to me in such a way that I MUST stop talking in order to hear... because Lord do I want to hear. I MUST put down my fear and guard and let my Lord in (which means letting others know the real me no matter if they reject me or not.) My attention is drawn and again I am reminded the my God IS I AM so be still. [shhh] be still.
Do you need to remember to be still? Do need to learn the same lesson I am learning: to let God do some of the talking in your relationship with him? Do you need to let go of fear and take a step of faith to trust God more regardless of rejection? Maybe you need to give yourself permission to "rest, relax and be still" for a time? Or maybe you just need to open your heart to being real and honest so God can use your voice to speak truth to someone else.