Be Still

“Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 10:28-30

Jesus promises rest. He promises that if we come to him, he will give us rest. This past month and a half or so has been a season where I have experienced this to be true. I wanted to share some things I have been and am learning along the way as I’ve sought rest in the presence of my King.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

A few weeks ago, my heart was heavy, my mind was racing, and anxiety was mounting. There have been few times in my life where I have felt anxious to the point of loosing sleep…but this was one of them. Combine my own burdens with the burdens I was carrying for others and I was an emotional disaster waiting to happen.

When I told my mom and my mentor, they both told me that I should seek to cast my anxieties on God and to be still and quiet in the presence of my Savior. They told me to see answers from the Lord for the things that were concerning me, but above all to be still and calm my soul before him.

“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19

Thus, the last month or so has been a time of seeking to discover what it really means to be still, to rest in Jesus.

I learned that reading and meditating on the Psalms really helps me to be still. Not only are the Psalms full of commands and reminders to be still, but they also display the depth and variety of human emotion. No matter what I am feeling, the Psalms always speak to that emotion. I’ve read almost nothing else in my time with the Lord for the last month and it has been a refreshing journey.

I’ve seen that that if I let time be a constraint I won’t be able to really be still. If I can’t sit down without thinking: “Okay, I only have 30 minutes to be with the Lord,” that’s all I will be thinking about during that time. I’ve taken one time (so far) to just sit in his presence, not worrying about what else I had going on that day. It was hard. My aim was to be still and silent in his presence, which is really, really hard to do.

This means that I won’t always get everything done that I want to in a day. I’m having to learn that it is OK if that thing gets pushed to tomorrow’s to-do list. It’s OK if all the homework doesn’t get done. My relationship with Jesus is supposed to be my first priority, and taking time to be still and calm my soul in his presence is one way I can show this. In addition, God will honor the desire to put him first. You don’t (technically) get more time in your day, but you may find that a task takes less time than you expected, or that taking time in His presence refreshes and renews you so that you have the strength to complete what must be done each day.

Being still means that I don’t have to have perfectly put together prayers. I’ve made it a habit now to sit down for my time with Jesus and first take a few minutes to calm and quiet my soul. Being outside helps me with this. It has been a great comfort to me to know that even if the only words I have are “Please, help” God will listen to that prayer. If I just sit and cry in his presence as I try to focus on him and calm my soul…he will give rest.

If it sounds mystical, know that it felt mystical to me the first few times I tried it. In my American culture (and my Type-A personality), doing and accomplishing are the markers of being truly successful. So to say that I had time with Jesus where I did nothing but sit there silently for a few minutes…that sounds odd.

But it worked. Although the anxieties are not completely gone, I have felt more at peace, more at rest than I was two weeks ago. I am learning to come and bring my burdens to him.

“Let not your hearts be troubled.” John 14:1

Lastly, I wanted to share a link to a song that has been helpful in my journey of learning to be still. It is called “Be Still and Know” by Hannah Kerr. The first time I heard the song I was brought to tears because the words seemed to speak exactly to my situation.

“May my meditation please God, for I rejoice in him.” Psalm 104:34