Be Still

BY: MEGAN GILMORE

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It has been a while.

As I look back on old posts I saw confirmation that it has been a long time since I have sat down to write. I am feeling a bit rusty as my fingers begin to type, but here I am.

I have missed this feeling of letting words flow through my fingers, but God had something for me that I needed to get very quiet for. Back in April, I felt God calling me to a quiet place with Him. An invitation to go deeper. I got very still - this meant I stopped writing for I Will Behold blogs. It also meant stopping social media for I Will Behold - I actually stopped most of the social media for a while. I had to get very quiet and still.

I could hear God calling to me. My soul felt the words of David in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!”

I do not know about you, but for me being still is hard. Being quiet can be even more of a challenge than being still. We live in a world of noise, busyness, and seeking the next thing. We can easily get caught up in striving to do more. I find that it can end up keeping us distracted by the noise of this world. I tend to be a doer - I do a lot of things. I keep myself going, working, and moving forward to reach my goals. This is not a terrible thing - but it can keep me from really hearing what God has for me.

When I heard God calling me into the deeper places of trust it led me to disengage from what had begun to speak a little too loudly in my life. I had to become still in order to really listen to HIm. I held onto this verse from Psalm 37:7, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”

Getting quiet and still before God was the first step to going deeper. As I waited I knew He was going to do something in me. I waited patiently in anticipation of His work. It has not been a quick process. It has been months of this - sitting, waiting, anticipating, and listening.

The quieter I got the more the second part of Psalm 37 resonated with me. “Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” It got me realizing that I can worry about what others are doing around me. By focusing on what others were doing I found myself striving in areas that God did not want me to be striving in. I am not saying that what others do is evil - but I needed to stop looking, comparing, and striving. He had something else for me and to sit in comparison.

Have you ever found yourself in this place? Have you found yourself looking around social media and seeing everyone doing great things? Then you start to look at what you’re doing and wonder how you can work harder? Maybe if you pushed a little bit more each day you could accomplish the next great thing. Or if you just could get to the next stage it would all be better. Maybe as you have looked at others on social media you started to strive in ways that were pushing you into places you were not meant for you. We find ourselves in a downward spiral as we continue to compare.

I think deep down we know we should not compare but we keep looking around and comparing - this leads to more striving. One thing I do know for certain is that comparison steals our joy. This simple little phrase is just the tip of the iceberg of what comparison can do to us. That is a whole other post I may have to write one day.

As 2021 began I found myself in this place of comparison and striving. It did not take long before I realized that I could not allow myself to stay in that place. God knew that I would not hear Him clearly if I stayed in the noise. The best way to silence that noise was to stop. To stop striving for more and stop comparing my life, work, and ministry to others.

Stopping not only shut out the noise of this world it helped me be still before the Lord. I was daily putting myself in His presence with anticipation that He would speak to me. There were stretches of times during the last few months where I did not hear Him speak but it was okay that there was silence. I have a history with God and know that just because I am not hearing Him does not mean He is not listening or working in my life.

God has really been working in my heart over this season of quiet. He has called me to a deeper place of trust. He wanted to move head knowledge down into my heart. He longed for me to have a better understanding of who He is. He wanted me to experience His presence and peace in a new way. God longed for me to understand how He was molding and shaping me to be the woman after His heart.

If you are in the season of being still before God I want to encourage you with these verses from Psalm 62:5-8 “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”

Maybe you have been feeling God call out to you. Perhaps God is calling you to go deeper with Him. My advice to you...take the dive! God is good. You can trust Him. You may have to take steps to quiet the world around you, but jump in! God has something just for you He wants to say to you.

Be still and know that He is God!