I have always had this unsettling feeling with time. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I have to do. I’m guessing that most everyone feels the same way? Why? Why do we over extend our schedules to a point where we don’t know if we are coming or going? This issue, this battle of ‘not enough time’ only leaves me feeling unaccomplished and inadequate.  How can this be a good thing? This can’t possibly be what God has intended for me and for you. Why have we become so programmed to think that being ‘busy’ is a sign of success? That having a full calendar somehow makes us feel ‘more important’.  All my life I have listened to many stories from parents and grandparents about their upbringing and it makes me sad for this generation. My parents and grandparents were so much more ‘well adjusted’ than today’s generation and had only just a fraction of what we have today…yet they were happier! They had something much more valuable also. They had their priorities straight! God was the center of their home! Their family unit was whole, and there were no ‘outside daily activities’ to occupy their time. They worked hard at home and they knew the value of time and money. And yes… they really did walk miles up hill to school too!

A few months ago this verse really spoke to me. Psalm 46:10 ‘Be still and know that I am God’.  I have reflected on this passage so many times over these past 16 months, but this time it was a little different.  I began thinking how I needed to be still in my own life too, not just still in Him. Feeling overwhelmed with life, raising four kids, caring for a sick child, another child recovering from a serious accident, constant doctor appointments, and running my small home business does not leave me much time to be still.  How could I possibly ‘be still’ in God when ‘being still’ in my own life wasn’t easy? Ahhh, but that is answer right there… in the question!  God does not want us to be overwhelmed with life. He wants us to seek Him, honor him with our time and lay our burdens at His feet. The reason we feel overwhelmed is because we are not ‘being still’ in Him. I mean really being still in Him. Fully resting in Him. The full verse says this. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Being still and resting in the One who IS the highest among all the earth, among all nations! Wow, that’s powerful! This is exactly where we need to be, still in Him! The chapter of Psalms 46 is about how God is with us, never leaving our side in times of trouble. He is our refuge and our strength. We don’t take time to be still and rest in our own lives, so being still and resting in God doesn’t come easy for us. Every aspect of our lives pretty much happens with a ‘click’. Technology has allowed our lives to function at rapid speed.  We become impatient and then think we can handle life on our own. This impatience causes us then to become anxious in the chaos and storms. It causes us to fret over hectic schedules. It causes us to doubt Gods perfect plan for our lives.  Yet, He is in control! Amen! He is the One we need to seek, find rest in and be still in. Putting God first in our lives is all we need to do! It’s that simple. He desires to carry our burdens and give us strength. Knowing that God stands before me, carries me, and walks beside me is critical to every breath I take!  And that is where I find rest and can ‘be still’.

Several weeks ago my daughters health took a turn. A turn in a very frightening direction that has left us devastated.  This devastating turn now makes ‘time’ look and feel different. Time looks so different that daily activities, errands and appointments no longer seem important. Meetings, laundry, kids activities, work, cooking, cleaning, all the ‘things’ on my calendar etc. etc. no longer seem worthy of time. Now don’t misunderstand, these are important and vital points of my life, your life too. But are they truly what is important? In the midst of this raging storm I am in comes a desperate feeling for the need of more time. Desperately pleading with God to give us more time.  Desperately pleading for complete healing.  Desperately needing to just be still in life and stop the noise, stop the chaos, stop the hurt. My desperate plea brought me instantly back to this verse, Psalm 46:10. I began thinking how I had just reflected on this passage and the whole chapter of Psalms 46. I reminded myself of the realization of knowing that I need to be still in Him. Be still in Him because all around me everything seems to be falling apart. All around me life is swirling at a rapid pace. All around me is a gnawing desire for more time. All around me is gripping fear and sadness that cuts deep into my soul.  I grasp on tight to my Heavenly Father and seek Him, seek His comfort. I know that beneath this pain, this deep sorrow and broken heart…that is all I need to do. Seek Him. Be still in Him.

Psalm 46: 1-3 says this: 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Right now, in my life, the storm is raging and the mountains are quaking. Yet, Gods promise to me is that He will go before me, He is my refuge and my strength, an ever present help in my time of trouble. What a beautiful promise! I cling to His promise and hear the sweet song of His precious words, “Be still and know that I am God”.

I pray that you too can be still in your own life and make room on your calendar to focus and what is truly important. Seek God. ‘Be still in Him’. Lay your burdens at His feet. Let Him be your refuge and strength.

~ Blessings!

Pamela