Lord, please teach this wiggily child to sit still!

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 37:7-9
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Psalm 40:1
"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry."

Romans 15:4-5
"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus."

The common theme of these verses? #1 – Being still. #2 – Having patience. The two actions that I seem to resist the most. Hence, why it has taken me several weeks to get back to my writing. There must be some part of me that inherently just doesn’t want to sit still, though it is probably the very thing I need most at times. Like now. My life is crazy, and I need to rest; God is calling me to rest. But how do I rest when I’ve already filled my calendar with work, work committees, grading papers, going to grad school, writing papers, attending workshops, learning my new job for next year, church, volunteering for church, bible study, cooking group, buying and cooking on a farmer’s market diet (yes, this takes a good chunk of time), exercise (notice how that one is at the bottom, haha). I’m a teacher, so summer break, right? Doesn’t happen! Last summer I crammed in three grad school courses in eight weeks, and this summer I have 160 hours of internship and then a four day-a-week class. These are all good things to do with my time, but could I have made them not so good when I don’t make time to be still with God?

Confession: I LIKE being busy. I’m not a fan of sitting at home with nothing to do. Every once in a while it can be nice, but I get bored easily and want to jump up and stay busy. It is a struggle for me to force myself to just be still and sit in God’s presence. But, when I finally do take those moments, it always results in peace and restoration for my soul. My goal is to remember how vital it is to my relationship with Him, and take more time to just SIT STILL, to listen to Him and to know He is God. I am praying for him to show me what I must do with my schedule to obediently follow His will for time alone with Him. He deserves my time first, and with a heart that is desiring and willing.

Now, one more time…more on the patience part later (I’m working up to that one)!