Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Be Still and Know

 


Often God will allow circumstances to arise in our life to shake our nest, to humble our soul, and to bring us a deeper healing, as well as a more intimate relationship with Him. Through this journey into the unknown, we feel insecure, which causes us to take His light and easy yoke upon us, so He can help us to carry it (Matthew 11:29-30). 

 

We find our solace in Him alone. This opens the door for us to enjoy the peace, joy, and love of God in ways that we never experienced before this time. We develop the habit of seeking out periods of quiet to find solace for our soul as we meditate on God’s Word and seek His face through prayer and listening quietly for His wisdom and grace.

 

In this stillness (Psalm 46:10), we also conduct regular searching inventories of our body, thoughts, feelings, and attitude. Negative reactions in our body and soul alert us that something is unacceptable and needs our attention. As we uncover the issue causing this unrest, we submit the problem to God’s Holy Spirit to make changes in us or for us. 

 

This habit allows us to commune with Christ in us in a more intimate manner (Colossian 1:27), makes us more aware of His presence within us and surrounding us, and gives us more patience to wait on His timing, will, and ways in our life (Psalm 62:1-5). 

 

We empty our mind of carnal reasoning and plans, and instead we follow Jesus’ example and listen for God’s instructions with our spiritual ears (Revelation 2:29; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; Matthew 13:15-17, 14:13). In this quiet place within, we avoid life’s distraction so we can change our habits, or our focus about negative issues, as the Lord leads us.

 

When we make time for solitude in our soul, we can better hear the Holy Spirit who abides within our spirit. We shut out the noise of the world around us, and we bow our head as we listen to the peace of God which directs our soul (Philippians 4:7). This tool is so effective, that we start to crave times and a place of solitude to seek God’s face (1 Chronicles 16:11).

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for dwelling within our spirit and for making Yourself available to us each moment of our day and night. Teach us how to embrace the quietness and confidence in You (Isaiah 30:15-21) that brings us into Your rest. Remind us to turn off our music, the TV, our phone or tablet or computer, and the noise of our children or workmates or community members around us as we focus on Your direction from within our spirit.

 

Help us to be aware of Your presence within us as You teach us to identify Your voice while You speak to us in contrast to the ideas which enter our mind from our fleshly desires, satanic lies, or worldly influences. Remind us to ignore the noise around us, to put an end to our constant busyness, to stop our self from being distracted by our flesh and hindered by spiritual warfare, and to focus on You alone. We wait in the silence within our soul and spirit so we can keep our mind centered on Your will and timing (Psalm 62:1-5). 

 

Thoughts for the Day:

As we sit tranquilly in the quiet place within us, we find the wisdom and power needed to confront the issues in our life. We reap fewer negative consequences from our choices and decisions (Proverbs 10:19), we gain more humility and compassion (Proverbs 11:12, 29:11; Jude 22-24), and we make wise decisions that benefit us for the rest of our life (Amos 5:13).