Everyone talks about how Christmastime can be the most stressful and busy time of the year, and don’t get me wrong, it can be. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that just about every season brings its own set of struggles. Let’s take, for example, the season we’re in, Spring. I love Spring, new growth, warmer temperatures, Easter, the end of school, it’s an exciting time. But there is also SO MUCH. Without fail, every year, someone brings up how busy the Easter season is, and the excuse I always hear given (and I have given myself) is “well, it’s just so early this year!” Or “Oh Easter just fell so late, much later this year!” It doesn’t matter the month, Easter is a busy season! Church services, egg hunts, family get-togethers, and if you’re in my family, there are April birthdays to celebrate. And maybe you have school-age kids or have had school-age kids at one time, and remember the sports and recital seasons, as well as the end of school with tests, proms, and graduations. Everyone's schedule might look a little different, but we all know a busy season, and how sometimes there’s no end in sight. We’re far removed from our forefathers in biblical times, whose days were not filled to the brim with busyness. So, how then do we be still? Should we even bother being still? I know I like to be busy; it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing things. Does being still really fit into our modern world? Is it really necessary
First, I do want to say that being still is different than being idle. God’s word warns us against being idle: “Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.” Ecclesiastes 10:18 “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule; “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”’ 1 Thessalonians 3:10 When we are idle, our thoughts are self-motivated, all about me, my wants, desires, and plans. When our souls are still before the Lord, we are denying ourselves and putting His plans, thoughts, and desires above our own. It’s not always easy, but we see some great examples of it working out pretty well for people in the Bible.
Most times we see the phrase “be still” in scripture, it’s said as a command. Man to man, God to man, Jesus to the wind and waves, man to self, etc. So, when we allow ourselves-or maybe at times force ourselves-to sit and be still before the Lord, we are obeying a command. Psalm 46:8-11 says, “Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
From a military standpoint, there are multiple accounts in the Bible where Israel’s army was told to be still before the Lord, to wait, to trust Him. Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah at the time, heard that the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites had decided to join forces and attack Israel. His first course of action was to turn to the Lord. “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.” 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 When the enemy started to advance the first move was to seek the will of God, we may not always find ourselves with a full army at our door, but many of us are fighting our own battles. Illnesses, family trials, money worries, the list goes on. So, as all of Judah assembles, let’s see how God responds to their situation: “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. He said, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Zizi, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.’” 2 Chronicles 20:14-17(a) After their time of being still before the Lord they marched to their positions, praising the Lord as they went, and all the while their enemies turned on each other completely destroying each other. Leaving the Israelites all of the plunder that took them three days to collect, and the neighboring kingdoms heard of how the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
When an attack comes, I know my first thought is to come up with an action plan: “How do we navigate this?” “Who should I call?” “When is the best time to work this into our schedule?” Being still is not often my first thought; it feels very unnatural, but I see how Jehoshaphat and the kingdom of Judah didn’t prepare themselves for battle at the first sign of trouble. Instead, they came together in prayer and fasting and waited upon the Lord before they made a plan of action.
Hezekiah, another king of Judah, also experienced God’s deliverance while his army needed only to be still. In 2 Kings 19:32, Isaiah wrote a message to Hezekiah with a prophecy, “The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this. Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.” Later in verse 35, we learn that while the army of Israel was asleep, the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp, and when they woke up the next morning, the king fled.
Why be still before the Lord? He fights our battles. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 The outcome is not going to look the way we want it to look every time, because that’s submission to God, and trusting His plan, but we can rest assured knowing He has the ultimate power and authority in every situation!
We’ve all had seasons where we’ve felt far from God, our prayer life is struggling, and maybe we’re reading through Leviticus without getting any takeaways for our day. A prayer wasn’t answered in the way we hoped, and we were just not sure why. We feel distant, and the last thing we want to do is push into the Lord, because it feels like He just isn’t responding. Friends, no matter how long you’ve been on your walk with Christ, we’ve all experienced a season like this. And while you may not feel like you are “getting anything” out of the quiet time of sitting with the Lord, you have entered into His presence. It doesn’t need to be a church building, you don’t need worship music played by a band, it can be in your closet floor or at your kitchen table, keep showing up. Jesus is our best example of getting alone time with the Father. Mark 6:46 says, “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” Multiple times throughout his ministry Jesus retreats to a quiet place to spend time with God the Father in prayer, in this passage he has just fed the five thousand and right after his time of prayer he walked on water, sandwiched between those miracles was specific time for his soul to be still and one with God. Being still before the Lord renews our focus, it brings about peace, strengthens our trust in God, and removes ourselves and others as idols from our lives.
Being still before the Lord is like a big shift for our lives, putting everything into focus, because it puts God back at the center. When we stop and give some time from our busy schedule to Him, He will start to change us and renew us. He wants my time, your time, our time, because He loves us, He wants us to know Him, to want a relationship with Him. I pray we all find some time to be still before Him today, and I pray that as your soul is still before Him, He blesses you with a fresh anointing of His unfailing love.
In Christ,
Becca Drumheller
