Be Still

It has been several weeks since I have posted to this blog. The Lord has been stirring and working within me while I have been wrestling! 

Here is where I have been wrestling: time. I know God calls us to allow Him to guide and direct our commitments and the way we spend our time. I know God calls us to rest and be still within Him. This leads me to wrestle with the following: how?

As I have been praying and reading my bible these past few weeks I have also been wrestling within my mind how to play these things out. I'm beginning to believe my head knowledge deep within my heart. It is not something we do in our own strength it is only something God can do within us. The place where I wrestle the most is that I know all of these things but I can not force life to stop coming at us. I can not slow down ministry that is growing (nor do I want to). I can not stop the activity of children, the demands of my commitments, the needs of my husband, etc.! I have to believe that God is capable and that He will be the strength of my heart. 

I am not at this point yet but the Lord is teaching me to rest in the small moments. He is teaching me that deep within my heart I need to know, "it is well with my soul." He is teaching me that I need to be at peace with God, peace with myself, and peace with this life He has graciously blessed me with. I am finding it comes down to my focus. I must focus on God "investing His strength within me" (Psalm 87). 

"But Lord, You are a God full of compassion, generous in grace, slow to anger, and boundless in loyal love and truth. Invest Your strength in me..."

While our summer is very busy and our restful family vacation does not come until the very end of our summer I can not spend these summer months waiting to "be still" until that vacation comes. I must be disciplined to look for the Lord each day. To see His vast might and to invite Him into the deep part of my soul that wrestles. To replace that uptightness with His peace. He is willing and waiting but we must make room for God. While I see the huge importance of family vacations and rest times I am learning that in those times where we simply can not make things stop God can still be our peace and our strength. We can be still in Him amidst the crazy and the chaotic. We just need to invite Him in and then look for Him. Find Him in your little kid randomly wrapping their arms around you. Find Him in placing your anxiety in Him. Find Him in the quiet whispers that He loves you. 

Remember, God wants to be our strength and He wants to whisper our name, we just have to listen.

Dear Lord, Help me to hear you and to listen for your voice amidst these busy days. Help me to pause while I'm tucking my kids in bed and know your strength. Help me to whisper your name while I'm fulfilling commitments. Help me to begin each day in your name. To whisper that I love you and my heart is committed to you as I begin each day. I know in these things you will fill me with your peace and teach me to be still in the small moments. I love you Lord.

 I invite you to work and rest within my soul.