Be still...

Sometimes being still can be the hardest thing to do. In the midst of the storm, however, it's the only chance for survival.

I think we've all heard the analogy to the child lost in a mall (or something similar), how we're always told to remain still until we are found. So, yeah I understand the concept, but how am I supposed to actually practice this whole "being still" thing? What does it look like?

For me, when life is at its most difficult, the last thing I want to do is remain still. Personally, I want to sprint my way through the pain and madness until I reach the other side. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Alanis Morissette fan. She has one song lyric that kind of became a mantra of mine because of how it helped me through many storms... "the only way out is through." For the longest time, I took that to mean that I just had to push my way through any situation if I ever wanted it to end. I never really stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, the more realistic implication is that to get out of whatever storm I'm facing, I have to live through it.

So, how does that apply to being still? For me, one huge hindrance to getting through a challenge is that I rarely sit with myself long enough to learn from the experience. When I'm struggling, I don't want to be still... I don't want to be alone with my thoughts because I'm afraid of where they'll take me. So, instead I push away the thoughts that may drag me down, and I fill up my life and my time with every possible distraction... until suddenly, I seem no longer bogged down by the struggle I was facing. In reality, what ever my struggle was is still there, still buried deep within me, waiting to resurface at the most inconvenient time... If only I would be still.

Be still and know...

One purpose of being still is to spend time talking to God. This I understand (though I'm admittedly not very good at this type of being still either). I feel often, however, that I don't take these moments of stillness to the fullest level. We are told to "be still and know that I am God"... I often find myself using this to simply still and blurt out all of my worries, troubles, complaints, etc. for God to hear and respond to me. In reality, something I'm realizing (probably not for the first time) is that I really just need to be still...be still and know... not be still and talk to God... not be still and expect an immediate answer from God. I just need to be still and know that He is fully aware and in whatever situation I'm facing. My pain is His pain, my worries are His, my fears are in His hands, my doubts are proven wrong by His realness... just because I'm not getting a clear "sure, Steph, I'll fix this right now" from God doesn't mean that my being still isn't working toward something.

All we are asked to do is to be still and know that He is God. When things don't make sense or seem unjust...instead of going over and over in my head thinking of how I should fix it or how I would do things differently, I simply need to hand it over to Him and allow Him to work out the details in His time. My job is to simply be still and know that He's got it under control.