Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Getting the Knack of Being Still

I decided way back, sometime last year, like at the beginning of the year, that I needed to simplify. Remember, I needed to "be still." Life had gotten out of control.  I was busy all the time.  I was burning the candle at both ends.  Just as I started into my "be still" mode, I had surgery to repair my rotator cuff, got the flu, etc, etc. moved into the spring and summer and had yet to find stillness. I had used up practically all my vacation as sick time in the first quarter of the year, no stillness there and big changes at work were causing me anything but.  No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get it. So, I tried even harder to "be still."  You know what I've learned, sometimes the harder you try the further you get from your goal.  I also have found that the harder I tried the more trust I put in myself and the less trust I put in God.

In the process of obtaining this goal of "being still" I built a wall around myself.  I went to work everyday. I came straight home from work and I actually planned to not leave the house all day long on my off days. The "stillness"  (and I use the term in this context lightly) was great. I'm not going to lie about that.  However,  there is a price to pay when you shut yourself off from the outside world. You lose emotional contact.  Sure, I still called my people, my family and friends, but I didn't "see" them.  I didn't realize what I had actually lost until tonight.  It's so easy to make excuses. I'm tired. I'm stressed. I'm too busy. I'm this. I'm that and then you fall into that trap and before you know it, two, three, six months have gone by and you have no idea where they went. The truth is,  relationships don't grow unless you feed them. You can't sit at home by yourself and expect everything to still be the same when you decide to come back out again.  While you've been wasting away life has been progressing along on the outside.  There must be balance. Trying to find that is the key. Right? Balance and moderation in all things.  

I'm still learning that to "be still" has a more deeper meaning than just being free of activity.  Sure, I definitely needed to cut down some of  my schedule but there was so much more to this verse.  "Be still" and "Listen" for His still small voice. No matter what is going on He is still speaking. We just have to be quiet enough to hear Him.  

So, with my new theme for this year coming from Isaiah 43:19, it IS a NEW day.  Today is the day to make time for those I love.  Isaiah 43:19 says: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Until we meet again,  Fifi



No comments: