Be Still – Slow down and wait on God

Be Still – Slow down and wait on God

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

The last two weeks have been very busy for me. We had spent a week in Moses Lake, WA with our children and grandchildren and now we were home again. Before that we had shared a month and a half with two of our granddaughters (not at the same time). The first week home was spent getting caught up on my client work and personal bookkeeping. (Oops, I missed a bill.) And this week was spent packing up our Women’s Ministries supplies and church library and moving it all into a storage unit in preparation of our church administration building being gutted to remove the asbestos. In between all of that I was preparing for our Home League (our Women’s Ministry) program for yesterday morning. The program I had chosen several months ago was called “In the Stillness” Preparing this message was refreshing for me. Some of what I found I share below. It was a great reminder of how important taking time to Be Still and Refresh myself in God’s power and love can be. The Bible, God’s Word, has a lot to say about being still, and about laughter.

In the stillness God wanted to show His power to Elijah. Elijah had just had a mountain experience with God on Mt. Carmel. Now he was on Mt. Horeb and God calls to him, “Go out and stand on the mountain ...” read 1 Kings 19:9-13a (NIV)

9 There he [Elijah] went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shatteredthe rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

outline provided by - snipped from https://anointedtube.com/video/23074/stillness-and-waiting-on-god/

Tak Bhana, senior pastor at Church Unlimited. The church is in Auckland, New Zealand

He used the NKJV www.churchunlimited.co.nz

the benefits

1. God’s presence will increase in our lives, Psalm 131:2 (NKJV)

2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Spiritual attention dispels chaos, dispels spiritual ADHD. It’s easy to spend a whole day working for God and yet not think about Him. Psalm 33:20 - Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. in this verse “wait” means a longing for God’s presence.

2. Know God is in your situation

Be Still and Know that I AM God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Set aside your anxiety and worries. Here’s a formula: a change of place + a change of pace = leads to a change of perspective.

3. Hear God’s voice – get still enough to hear. God wants to communicate His wisdom and His counsel to us.

4. God will work on your behalf

Isaiah 64:4 - For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

5. Develop a confident trust in God

Psalm 62:1 - Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.

here “waits”means calm, strong, confident, silent trust in God

2 Chronicles 20:17 - You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

6. Possess your inheritance

Psalm 37:34 - Wait on the Lord, And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. (a military position to sieze)

How to get still

1. Shut up (talk less)

James 1:19 - So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

2. Surrender (stillness = let go; surrender)

3. Slow down your lifestyle

4. Spend time daily with the Lord – give God an hour and He’ll be with you the other 23.

5. Solitude

While I was preparing my program I came across a jewel of a book compiled by Jill Briscoe, “Refreshing Your Soul.” You can find it at her website – https://justbetweenus.org or at Amazon “Refresh Your Soul: Caring for Your Inner Life.”  I shared a chapter from it with my ladies.

Each chapter is written by a different woman and are only 3-5 pages long. To get your interest, here are the chapter titles:

  1. Escaping to God’s Arms

  2. Exchanging Calm for Chaotic

  3. RX: Soul Medicine

  4. Is Solitude Possible in a Noisy World?

  5. Running Out of Prayers

  6. How to Hear God’s Voice Above the Clamor

  7. 20 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time

  8. Rest for the Weary

  9. Soul Care

10. Food for the Soul

And here is a paragraph from chapter 6: “Surprisingly, I often find myself just as reluctant to hear His words of love – particularly when I feel less than lovable. Hearing His words of grace and love can be painfully difficult. Many of us don’t wait in His presence long enough to let Him love us. We are quick to voice our concerns, seek His guidance, and request His blessing. Yet, how it must grieve our Father’s heart that we come to Him only in want of something, rather than coming simply because we enjoy being in the Father’s presence.”

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