Did you ever play ding-dong ditch as a child? It is where you go up to someone’s door, ring the doorbell and run away as fast as you can so they don’t see you. I confess, that I did this more than once as a child, giggling behind a tree a few houses down.
A few weeks ago my doorbell rang. When I opened the door no one was there. As I looked down I found a shiny, purple bag. Inside the bag was this beautiful necklace.
My dear friend left it at my door for me; it was such a thoughtful surprise! This necklace was crafted with Psalm 46:10 in mind:
“Be still, and know that I am God”
As a type A personality I often need to be reminded to “be still.” This may be a familiar passage to you, but let’s take a closer look. There is a lot of direction for us within these seemingly simple eight words.
When we first hear “be still” we may think of sitting in a room in silence without television, or our phones in hand. Your response to that thought might be, “That sounds amazing! I would love that!” Or you may have a visceral reaction and feel uncomfortable just imagining the silence.
If you identify with the latter, you are not alone.
In a lab in South Minneapolis there is a room that’s 99.99% soundproof. In 2012 it held the Guinness World’s Record for being the quietest place on earth.
It has 3-foot thick fiberglass acoustic wedges and double walls of insulated steel and concrete that are over a foot thick. NASA rents the room to train astronauts. Whirlpool used it to test washing machines. The Harley Davidson Company used it to make their motorcycles quieter.
Steven Orfield, the president of the company that created the sound proof lab, said that when he goes inside he can hear the artificial valve in his heart tick.
He said, “The quieter the room, the more things you will hear.” The sounds of silence actually become quite unnerving for most people and the record for the longest stay in the room is just 45 minutes.*
Here’s the good news: “still” is not a call to silence; it is a call to simply let go.
We may think the word “still” is a passive word. But, instead, let’s think of it as an action word. In Hebrew, it is a verb that means “to release; to let go.”
Over the past few months many of us have been in the position where life has slowed down. Maybe we have developed some slack in our once very busy schedules. Yet in that slack there has been more stress, more change, and more uncertainty than we may have ever experienced in our lifetimes.
Each of us have been faced with struggles, increased stress, and fear of the unknown.
How do we loosen our grip on struggles and hold on to God?
1. “Be Still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
We need to look at the rest of that verse, “know that I am God”. There are moments when we can forget that HE is God. We are not God. Our situation is not our God. Our abundance or lack is not our God.
Our God parted the seas for Moses. Our God closed the mouths of lions for Daniel. Our God protected three men inside a fire and allowed those three men to come out unharmed; and they didn’t even smell like smoke. Our God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus that we may once again walk in relationship with Him.
That is our God!
When you know Him, you trust Him. You can release your concerns to a God who is still on the throne and who has a plan for the troubles you face. You can let go when you know who your God is and that He is for you.
2. Allow Time
When we want to build a relationship with a friend we make time to do so. There are so many things pulling at our time right now. Make time for yourself, time to spend with God. Whatever we focus on is empowered. Let’s spend time focusing on Him and empowering His strategies, His peace and His joy in our lives. Life moves fast, but we can choose to take time to slow down and focus on Him.
3. Engage in Conversation
A conversation is an exchange. You talk and listen. When we have a lot on our minds it is easy to pray and ‘dump’ all of our concerns on God. That is one way that we can let our struggles go.
Yet, we see in the Bible that God wants a two-way conversation. Not by being a genie in the sky who grants our wishes, but He wants to be still with us and engage in conversation. God wants to speak and be heard even more than we desire Him to. In your prayer time, I encourage you to give God the space to speak to you.
This week, how will you engage stillness?
What will you let go of?
Reclaiming Letting Go Together,
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*Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ar- ticle-2124581/The-worlds-quietest-place-chamber- Orfield-Laboratories.html#ixzz1r5b5z5EN
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