I woke up this morning with my heart racing, full of anxiety that literally forced me out of bed and had my mind a mess. I couldn’t explain it, but I could pinpoint that it was coming from a mental list of all the things I’ve yet to get done, needed to check off, or felt behind on before Christmas. I poured my coffee and wanted to start checking things off the list but I heard the Lord calling me to sit for awhile and listen. To dig into the Word.

It felt counterintuitive to sit still. I opened my bible to 2 Corinthians 7 where I’ve been studying, and I was met with this verse: “Our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn – fighting without and fear within.  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us…” Thank you Jesus, for pointing me to this reminder.

As I was journaling I was praying for my heart to be calm and I kept thinking about Psalm 46, so I flipped over and started praying this Psalm. Because I didn’t know what else to pray. And because it felt like the only place to start.

The world is crumbling to pieces in Psalm 46, yet the author reminds us that God is our strength and we do not need to fear. He goes on to remind us of the verse we love to pray “Be Still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” And that’s where the best truth of the morning sunk in.

We often come to the Lord to “Be Still” for a few moments so that we can get right back to the pace we were moving in before. Being still with Jesus feels like a means to an end, an answer for our anxiety and a remedy for our weariness. And truthfully, because of God’s grace to us, it often does lessen those burdens we bring to Him.

But what if being still isn’t actually about us at all? What if we are coming to get our cup filled when God is asking us to come pour out our praise? See, being still isn’t the goal in that verse. Knowing God is the goal.

Knowing that He is great and worthy, that He WILL be exalted, even when our world is falling to pieces, and He will be known among the nations, even when we are tired and anxious. Maybe coming to Him to Be Still is actually more for our hearts to focus on something bigger than ourselves.

Maybe it’s less about getting still so we can reclaim our peace and jump back into the hustle – but more about being still long enough to come undone. To look up. To see how big God is and how tiny we are. To behold His works of wonder. To reset our gaze and refocus our heart on what matters. And then to walk in that truth instead of jumping right back into the chaos. To know He is with us, at work, and bigger than our situation.

Maybe being still is really good for our hearts but even better for the glory and praise of the Father. And that’s what this life is really all about, anyways. He WILL be exalted – and being still is our invitation to pause and join in on the praise. [Selah]

sitting still for a bit,

rachael