Make The Time To Be Still

“Make The Time To Be Still”

By Zach Wood

Psalm 46:10 NIV

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

This past weekend, my wife and I had a weekend date while the girls were away.  My wife worked for a couple hours Saturday night and I was home alone for 2 hours.  When she left, I sat on the couch and read, with no TV or music on.  It was completely quiet.  And, I have to be honest, it was really weird.  I sat there reading in complete silence and it just bothered me.  Why?  Because I am not used to having much quiet time to myself. 

I am so used to being on the go and doing things all day long, whether at work or at home with my family.  I am not good with being still.  I just don’t sit down long.  And, if I do, I’m usually wiggling my feet or bouncing my knee (which drives my wife nuts!)  I don’t know why, but I just have the hardest time sitting still and being quiet.  I guess I don’t feel productive when I’m not moving or doing anything. 

This passage is probably one of the hardest passages in all of Scripture.  It is hard for many people.  We have become accustomed to always being on the go and not slowing down.  It is hard for so many of us to make time to just be still.  Well, God has a problem with that.  We need time to slow down and just be still before Him.  We need that quiet, that stillness.  As uncomfortable as it might be, we desperately need it.  We truly need that stillness in our lives, often.  And, we actually need it daily.  I know, many of you are probably thinking, “Yeah, right!  I don’t have time to slow down!”

Plain and simple, we need to quiet our day somehow and take time to just be still and be in the presence of God.  During that two hours I was home by myself reading a book, I kept thinking about how quiet it was and how uncomfortable that felt.  I just am not used to it and I know that I need more of that.  I just needed the time and quiet to clear my mind and focus on what God wanted to communicate to me while reading. 

I realize that we are all very busy people.  We seem to pride ourselves with being busy because busy equals productivity, right?  Well…..to some degree, but not always.  I want to encourage all of us to really consider how much stillness we are putting into our day to spend with God.  We absolutely must make the time to be still.  Wherever you have to go and just have some moments along and in quiet, do it!  Make it a habit everyday if you can. 

Make the time to be still!