To be still in God doesn’t mean we can’t move ahead. It doesn’t mean we can’t pursue dreams and passions placed deeply inside our souls. Being still in His presence actually means moving within it. it’s about stepping forward at His pace and never our own.
The gravity of the sun is what keeps the planets in orbit. Its force holds them in perfect rotation around it. Imagine if we, the living stones of Christ, stayed rotating around the S-O-N, trusting the force of an all powerful God to keep us right where we are supposed to be.
Too often we end up like meteors: dead rocks falling from the sky lit up with our own pride. Sure, it looks pretty for a time, but all we’re really doing is flailing around of our own free will in submission to nothing. And then we crash hard. Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Over the next 31 days, I want to talk about the courage it takes to live in His stillness, and the faith it takes to let His will remain in the center. I want us to discuss being living stones, using our gifts for His glory. I’m praying for connection, conversation, and a reawakening of passion in each heart who reads this series.
Friend, when trust and faith are out of balance, stillness is incomprehensible.
For the entire month of October, we are going to journey our way to the sweet spot of stillness. It’s a place that gives God glory and satisfies our souls all at the same time.
What do the words be still mean to you?
Love,
Jennifer
PS: Since it’s the first day of Write 31 Days, let’s kick it off with a giveaway! Subscribe to my blog via email anytime this week, and receive a free kindle edition of my book Nothing to Hold but Hope! It will be emailed directly to you from Amazon! The offer is Good starting today through October 7th 2015.
Day One: The Struggle to Live a Still Life (An October Series)
Day Two: The Ugly “S” Word…
Day Three: The Day I Fell Out of the Raft (Literally)
Day Four: For When the Break Isn’t Clean
Day Five: You Have the Ability to Soar in Stillness
Day Six: Because Stillness and Condemnation Don’t Mix
Day Seven: Finding the Still Inside the Storm
Day Eight: Stillness Requires Vision
Day Nine: Confronting Brokenness Leads to Stillness
Day Ten: Stillness Begins in the Heart
Day Eleven: Stillness Requires a Heart Willing to Respond
Day Twelve: Because Stillness Doesn’t Always Feel Still
Day Thirteen: The Act of Standing in Stillness
Day Fourteen: Stillness Requires Commitment
Day Fifteen: Stillness Demands Steadfast Faith
Day Sixteen: Stillness and the Emotional Dam
Day Seventeen: Stillness and the Hummingbird
Day Eighteen: Stillness Requires Boldness
Day Nineteen: Stillness and Listening to the Plan for YOUR Life, Not Hers…
Day Twenty: The Primary Offender of Stillness
Day Twenty-One: We Are All in Process
Day Twenty-Two: The Day Fear Dropped Me Off in Crazy Town
Day Twenty-Three – The Incompatibility of Stillness and Control
Day Twenty-Four: Jumping the Wake
Day Twenty-Five: Because We All Need Friends
Day Twenty-Six: We Need to Practice Stillness
Day Twenty-Seven: So Much of the “Still Life” Boils Down to Choice
Day Twenty-Eight: Going with the Flow
Day Twenty-Nine: For When God Seems Still
Day Thirty: How Waiting Can Lead to Stillness
Day Thirty-One – The Struggle to Live a Still Life… The Conclusion
To me, “still” means pushing the pause button and just letting things soak in a bit, rather than always pushing forward and pressing on. Looking forward to reading your series! (Hi #write31days neighbor!)
Hello, Jen! I’m so thankful your joining me and am looking forward to joining you as well!
Can’t wait to follow along! Being still is hard for me, so maybe I can learn a few things! To me, being still means turning off my own ideas and expectations (and ideally following God’s)
Yes! Turning off our own expectations and opening ourselves up to Him is the best way to be still! Thanks for reading!
I am a Martha with a Mary heart. Even when I am physically still, my mind is racing. To me, to be still means quieting my heart and mind and receiving all that He has for me. Sometimes I run ahead. So looking forward to reading!
Thank you, Barbie! I’ve been praying for you and your blog issues. I hope it’s resolved soon. I’m looking forward to reading your words!
This us great, Jennifer. Have you read Emily P. Freeman’s book Simply Tuesday? I think you would enjoy it.
Hi, Joy. I have it and just started it! I can’t wait to dive in!
Being still before the Lord to me means just that, being still letting my mind and my heart be quiet before the Lord, so that He can fill me to overflowing with His love and His goodness. It is sitting quietly before the Lord, reading His Word and taking in all that God has for me. It’s so hard in this fast paced life to be still before the Lord, but as a mom and a wife, I have to take that time for just God and I.
Hi, Betty. Yes, we all need time to be still before Him. I love your answer!
Still is what I wish my constantly fluttering heart would remain, my dashing thoughts would stay, my trembling spirit would be. I’m looking forward to quieting my soul this stressful month while meditating on this with you. Thank you!
Hello, Lea Ann. I know. It’s all too easy to lose focus and allow our thoughts to escape out of a still place before Him. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey!
I have long been wrestling with stillness, and I’m excited to journey through it with you this month! Stillness means peace to me: glorious, incomprehensible peace, emanating from the core of me. It’s a kind only Jesus can give.
Amen! The peace that passes all understanding! I can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts on this topic throughout the month!
Stillness is that precious quiet time with Jesus. A time which seems to stop the moving of the everyday and deep calls to deep. I recently have had my quiet time, or stillness disturbed by circumstances beyond my control. It shows in my attitude, actions and reactions. Desperately searching for the “new” way God sees our time of stillness together. Looking forward to your series. (I’m taking the #write31days challenge for the first time. Hoping it will lead me to the new normal-stillness-with Him).