Heartbreaking stillness

The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.” (Exodus 14:14)

The hard part about endurance is the stillness.  When neither pain or suffering hold your hand, but in the wait you stand there all alone, slightly discomforting, and absolutely still.  At least pain gives you some sort of urgency, but stillness?  Stillness is a meek and humble stance, a position of stop and wait.  

Can we stand still for a moment longer?  Without falling asleep or without busying ourselves with a task on our check list?  

What about just being still. 

Try it and you'll soon find that stillness awakens our meditation and pries open the inner doors of the heart.  Your thoughts will shudder at the stillness and they will begin to go rabid.  But don't chase them, let them run and be above them, watching them run and crash and go in circles, up and down, spinning and hitting walls, spiraling every which way, threatening you for your involvement, beckoning you to join in their havoc, but be above them as if on a balcony.  Then take your mental gaze off of them and look into the doors of your heart.  It'll be a dark and hazy place but the longer you gaze the more your eyes will adjust to what's there.  Your thoughts will be distant whispers all throughout, but only below where you are.  

Be still. 

"Be angry and do not sin; 

on your bed, reflect in your heart 

and be still. 

Selah."

-Psalms 4:4

Discomfort, drowsiness, emotions and thoughts will poke and badger you to stop being still, but be still, you are doing a great thing.  

Be still and look inside the place guarded by fear and pride.  Fear and pride cannot see us when we are still.  So being still allows us to get past them and see what they try to keep from our eyes.  

Be still and see what's there in the deep.

What do you see?

What do you hear? 

How murky is it?

How loud and griping are the things below the balcony from where you are?

Where do you stand in proximity to fear and pride?

How hard is it for you to just be still?

---

We go into life without much foreknowledge about what will happen to us, we bank on things to be something and sometimes they are and sometimes they're not.  

We get confused about what to do, where to be, who to see, what to say, how to start, when to finish, and a million other things.

At least that's how I feel a lot of the times.  I look at my life and it pains me to be still and look inward at what's blocked by fear and pride.  I hear the thoughts that want my attention, but they are working with fear and pride to get me moving and doing all kinds of things--to keep me from seeing what I see when I'm still. 

Yet I  am compelled to be still because I hear my name being called by a voice familiar and gentle.  What's behind fear and pride seems to call for me, and I cannot resist it's beckoning to me.  

"My sheep hear My voice, 

I know them, and they follow Me."

-John 10:27

All that is needed is to be still.

Listen to the voice in the smallness. 

What is God saying today?  For from the stillness He speaks a better word than the thoughts below. 

"He comforts us in all our affliction, 

so that 

we may be able 

to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive 

from God. 

For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, 

so through Christ our comfort also overflows. 

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort 

and salvation. 

If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, 

which is experienced in your endurance 

of the same sufferings that we suffer."

"For every one of God’s promises 

is “Yes” in Him. 

Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory."

"Now it is God who strengthens us, 

with you, in Christ and has anointed us. 

He has also sealed us 

and given us the Spirit 

as a down payment in our hearts."

-2 Corinthians 1:4-6, 20-22 

Open the door and go to the one who speaks "Yes" about the promises we were given, the one who creates strength in us, for He resides in our inner hearts not below the balcony of ruckus.  

Pray without ceasing. 

Love your enemies.

Love one another.

Be still and know that He is God. 

Oh, heartbreaking stillness, break down the doors of my heart to let me get to You. 

Jmegrey.