At the end of each year, God gives me a Word to take me through the coming year.
2 years ago the Lord He gave me Psalm 46:10 -
2 years ago the Lord He gave me Psalm 46:10 -
God says, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be praised in all the nations; I will be praised throughout the earth.” (NCV)
As if to be sure that I got the message, He sent me a water bottle with the verse on it through a Pastor and his wife. Later that year, a sister-friend came to me and said "I saw a notebook and thought about you..." I was happy to hear that someone thought about me and screamed when I opened the envelope...because this ==> is what I found in it. Obviously God was thinking about me as He always does - and repeated His Word to me.
Interestingly, the same Pastoral couple who gave me the water bottle gave my family a piece of Wall Art for Christmas. Do you want to guess what it said?When I received it, I turned to Mrs. Pastor and recounted what God had said to me and how He has used them twice to reiterate it and how he used another person too.
Talk about reinforcement via repetition...
Then last year, He gave me this verse for 2018 is Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (NIV)
Now it was evident that being "still" would be key to my #victory in 2018.
As this year has progressed - challenges and all - I've continued to remind myself that God has instructed me to "Stay/stand still." According to Google, "Still" means "not moving or making a sound" (as an adjective) and "deep silence and calm" (as a noun).
In my opinion, I believe that I have done a really good job in being still but now and again I have asked myself "How still is still?" I noticed that I was really carefree ("free from anxiety or responsibility"*) and care-less (without a care) not careless ("not giving sufficient attention or thought to avoiding harm or errors"*) in my attitude due to my trust in God.
Now and again my husband would say to me "their strength is to sit still."** Even though I agreed with him, the question "How still is still?" was still top of my mind. As I pondered on this, the Holy Spirit reminded me that being still does not mean that I should be inactive. Actually what He said was that I must keep busy "sowing" from a place of strength not from a place a stress. Now that made sense to me because the deep calm and confidence that you will get a harvest comes after you have sowed...
As I was pondering on the best time to publish this piece, 2 interesting things happened:
First of all, I saw this Tweet...(italics, mine)
T.D. Jakes (@BishopJakes) tweeted at 9:22 AM on Sun, Mar 04, 2018: When you serve you see more. God magnifies Himself. We often misinterpret the scripture. If we're waiting on the Lord, it doesn't mean that we wait and do nothing. https://t.co/jUe8MHGuqL #TPHOnline #PrinciplesOfService #SundayMorning (https://twitter.com/BishopJakes/status/970333568919658498?s=09)
And then the next week I had training in another office. When I went to get tea, I wanted a different mug - after all I'm unique. Then I saw this mug that was spot on. As I made my tea, a lady came in and said, "Oh I love that mug..." We chatted a bit about how being peaceful is powerful. I said to her I find that being still in a storm is a source of strength...for me it has been.
So I encourage you to cultivate the habit and attitude of stillness - especially in the busy-ness of the world. You'll be amazed at how energized you are to do what you need to in those moments. "Be still"
References:
**Isaiah 30:7 - For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. (KJV)
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