Sit Still

My mother read to me. I don’t remember a time when stories didn’t fill my mind and my heart. In many ways they shaped me – often for good and sometimes…. Sometimes the messages got a bit muddled in my child heart and left impressions that didn’t serve me well.

For instance, the story of “The Little Engine That Could.” Now there, one would think, is a positive message. That tiny little engine did what no one else thought possible and by sheer willpower pulled that train up and over the mountain to deliver the toys safely to the waiting children on the other side. Everyone loved and praised the little engine.

It certainly has it’s merits, but when it becomes a driving force in your life – not so much.

I have always known God loves me. I have heard it in messages, read it in His Word, studied it in groups, sung it in songs. It’s a truth stored safely in my head. Yet time and time again, I have realized it isn’t a truth that has made its way down into my heart.

Somewhere between my head and my heart stands a little barrier of doubt. It reveals itself in phrases like: “I should have… I need to…. What is it I should be doing for You? I don’t want to miss my calling.” It’s as though I have become that little engine, longing to do something big so I will earn that love and affirmation I long for. Not consciously, mind you, because I know God’s love for me is unconditional. It’s just that there are times I cannot seem to put aside that “do enough; good enough” tally sheet.

Just recently I experienced one of those times. I wanted so much to know what I should be doing for the Lord in this empty nest season of my life. I felt weighed down by so many things I couldn’t control and longed for purpose. My days slipped through my fingers – the hours filled with ordinary tasks and duties.

I woke one morning with what had become the norm – a heaviness around my heart. I reached for my little Daily Light book and opened it to the day’s reading – a little collection of verses around a particular subject. The first verse nearly brought me to tears:

“Sit still, my daughter.” Ruth 3:18

Almost audible – tender words from the heart of a Father who loves me apart from all the “doing.” A Father telling His weary (a weariness of her own making) daughter to simply rest in Him. Right this moment the only thing I “need” to do is be still. He would rather I sit at His feet, rest my head against His knee and feel the touch of His hand on my head. The hand of a loving Father who longs to have a relationship with me – with you. He loves us that much.

Let the truth of it seep down into your heart. In a world where doing and being seen and finding approval seem the most important things, we have a Heavenly Father who simply wants to love and be loved; to know and be known. All the other “things” will flow out of that – in His time and in His way.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Blessings,

Linda

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