Be Still

Stress is rampant, and people are on edge. 

You will get practical tips on living life as something other than "busy person." Go deeper and practice being still for a short time. Meditate a few moments on the scripture that tells us to "be still..."

Being still, if only for a short time, makes you calmer. And if you are calmer, you will handle the world differently!

Transcript

Be still.

How to be still when so much is swirling around us? From our family and work demands to our own ambitions, we find it hard to be still. We find it wrong to be still. But when we are, maybe on a vacation, or in a rare moment late at night, or because in a crisis we just had to get a break, in those moments being still is wonderful. 

I noticed something: to be still requires faith. Our busyness is for the purpose of getting things done, or responding to crises, or we stay busy to tamp down the worries. To choose to be still requires letting go of all that. To be still means the world is running without me for a while. I can’t affect the outcome if I stop, I believe, so I must keep busy. 

There is a nervous energy that works against being still. This nervous energy is in us and in the culture around us. We feel that the busier we are, the more we will get done, and the better our lives will be. If I control my schedule, and maybe your schedule, the demons won’t get me, I’ll get ahead in the world, and the stirring discontentment in me will fade. 

Yet, being still may affect your outcome (and the outcome of the world) for the better. It is clear that stress is rampant, and people are on edge. If you are calmer, you may handle the world better; you may not snap back with an angry response when someone gets angry with you. Road rage might decrease. Getting in line at the restaurant, on the way into school, or to get gasoline could be more peaceful and patient. 

What if you and I became more patient?

My wife and I were walking our dog in a large park near us. We have been to this park many times. It has woods, soccer fields, and paths with gravel, asphalt, and concrete. Some paths are for walking and the concrete ones are also bike paths. The walkers and bikers are to stay on certain sides and follow rules, so no one gets hurt. 

In our neighborhood, we have trained our dog to stay to the left side of the road because we walk her on our streets where there are no sidewalks. Years ago I was taught to walk facing car traffic so they can see you and you can see them coming. So that is what we do with the dog. 

On the bike path that doesn’t work out so well. The dog pulls us to go to the left side, but the rules say to walk to the right. Bikers are to call out “on your left” as they ride by coming from behind you, so you don’t step out in front of them. 

One day we were walking on each side on and off because the dog pulls her usual way, and we would sometimes go with her and sometimes pull her back. Another couple with a dog came our way and we pulled off into the grass to the left to give them room to get by. Then we looked up and saw a biker coming toward us. I just stayed by the left side because getting back across would have put us right in his way. He adjusted to us and yelled, “you are supposed to be on the other side!” I yelled back, “we had to move for someone else,” to which he yelled as he went farther by, “no you didn’t!” To this I yelled again, “yes we did!” And he was far enough away at that point he didn’t yell again, nor did I. 

This was not one of my prouder moments. Yes, most bikers just adjusted to us if we were on the “wrong” side without saying anything. And that he felt the need to yell at us “made me mad.” But I’m convinced that I had a patience shortage that day (which seems to be another epidemic going on right now.) If I had been making more time to be still, to settle my soul, I believe my reaction to the situation would have been calmer, with no need to yell at the biker. 

So, try this exercise with me. Just be still. Get in a quiet place with as little noise and distraction as possible. Then get ready to be still. Scratch anything that itches, pull and tug at your clothes in any way needed to get comfortable. Sit or lie down in the most comfortable way you can. Decide that for a few minutes you will not move, even to scratch. 

Think about the idea of faith being necessary for being still. Where can you put your faith? Maybe you can exercise some faith in yourself that you can, in fact, be still. Or you can ask God for help in trusting that the world will run without you for a while and release that need to control or stay busy. 

Pray, relax, release, and be still even if it is just a couple of minutes. Take some slow breaths. Soften into any impulses to jerk, rub or scratch. Notice muscles move from tense to at ease. Just be still and have faith. 

Psalm 46:10 says “Be still…”  Meditate, ponder, and think about that verse. Let it wash over you as you still your body. 

Then ask yourself what that was like. Was it hard? Was it pleasant? Could it have been both hard and pleasant? I challenge you to make time in your life to do this again.