12/26/2018
Do you really know how to wait upon the Lord? Sometimes we are so busy in our lives that we forget what it means to be absolutely still. We forget what it means to quiet our minds and just listen to the breath of the world around us, and for God who moves it with His hand.
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV
I read an article one time regarding the importance of stilling ourselves, and I thought to myself that this was such a simple thing that it almost seemed a waste of time to dedicate more than a sentence to the notion. The article suggested that we get an egg timer (now you can use an App on your phone) and try to do this for a minute. I tried it, and failed. My first mistake was to think that I could just still myself while sitting in my office... what a joke that was because my mind was racing and every sound reminded me of where I was and how much I had to do. So the next time I tried it in the quiet of morning in my prayer closet... same thing, I failed. I kept thinking about my normal prayer routine, and all those things I needed to pray about that day. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.
“"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"”
Psalms 46:10 ESV
Then I reread scripture, similar to the two we have just read, and looked at the life of Jesus. First of all, He retreated to a quiet place away from daily distractions, and He typically did this when His busy day was over, or in the very early hours of morning before the sun rose and He had ramped up to His normal waking activities. Then I noticed something else... scripture does not espouse the practice of totally clearing your mind... it is not the once vogue “art of transcendental meditation”... it is tuning out all those things in our lives that keep us from concentrating on God, our salvation, and listening his voice. To go a step further, it is being able to sit quietly and wait for Him to speak without being distracted and pulled back into the world.... and yet, even with this new understanding, it was still nearly impossible for me. My first attempts at doing this for a single minute were abysmal failures. It seems that we are not creatures that naturally embrace the benefits of quiet, rest, and waiting. We are trained from early childhood in principles such as “the early bird gets the worm”, and “early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” All such sayings promote being busy in life, and even attacking sleep so that we can accomplish more. So how are we to do these things that scripture asks of us?
The scriptures themselves give us the key... in Lamentations 3 we read that we should be quiet, and in Psalm 46 we are told to be still.
There is a technique employed with a child who is in the midst of a tantrum, and that is to hold the child very firmly and close to your chest, to the point of limiting their movement, and to speak softly to them until they are no longer struggling... until they calm down. This is a physical act, but quite often I think that God employs much the same tactic with us on a spiritual level. When we are frothing in the world, and floundering in our problems, throwing up prayer after prayer, God gets still, and forces us to wait on Him. We often refer to this as “The silence of God”, and it can seem contrary because we think that if He would just do what I am asking then everything will be alright, and yet, it never is... we just move on to the next fire in our lives. When God embraces us in silence, we must become still in his arms, and listen to the calm in His voice. God rewards our waiting.
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 ESV
God wants to be active in our lives, but generally speaking, He won’t do this until we have given Him open access, and we do this by listening for His voice, by being still, quiet, and patient. It is then that He reveals to us His will.
We read the story of Jesus stilling the raging sea, and we typically think of it in regards to faith alone, but there is another side to this as well... why was there a storm in the first place? Jesus could have passed through life without ever experiencing a storm at sea, but He used this to teach about resting, waiting, being still, and yes... the faith it takes to do these things. You might think that Jesus did this Himself, but He didn’t... He was within the will of God, and doing the will of God as He spoke to the sea. We
“And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"”
Mark 4:37-40 ESV
When we are in the midst of our storms where is our faith? When the wind is howling how can we find the peace of God, and His rest? When our boat is taking on water where is the patience we need to wait on God’s rescue? They all reside in God’s will, and our seeking it... not in our shouting for an answer. Sometimes the boat goes down in the storm, a business fails, a loved one passes away, or any number of such things, and when they do we become upset with God, we are upset because we already had the answer in our minds, and He didn’t provide it as we wished... but where were we in relationship to God’s will? This is where being quiet, peaceful, at rest, and patiently waiting comes into play... they allow us to hear His voice, and through this... His will. Where was God when the nails were driven through the hands and feet of Jesus? Why was Jesus so calm in the face of this impending doom? God was right there, and His will was not to spare His Son, but to redeem our souls. Jesus found peace in God’s will.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the quiet in my life. Thank you for your lessons that teach me to wait upon you, and to seek your will. Thank you Holy Father for the storms in my life that serve to reveal your greatness, and perfect your will in me. Help me Merciful Father to find the ability to be still, and to wait upon you as I listen for your small still voice that whispers to me your mighty will. Give me the strength of faith I need to answer “Here am I”, and “Your will, not mine, be done.” Take me to the quiet places where we can talk, and still me so that I might hear you clearly amidst the ruckus of my minds wandering. Speak in my mornings, and evenings, and hear me all the day long. Let your will, not mine, be done this day. You are my God, and in you is my trust; in your will my faith makes its home, and in your arms I find my rest. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who stills my life, and calms my mind.
Rich Forbes