ACTIVE STILLNESS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10, is one of those popular verses we run to when life becomes chaotic or challenging.  Yet, many people tend to think this verse means to just rest or relax in who God is. And while this verse does encourage believers to reflect on who God is, there is more to this psalm than the one verse—and verse 10 is more of a wake-up call to be in awe and assurance than just simply a gentle call to rest.

This verse is saying be silently ACTIVE with listening ears always remembering that GOD is still GOD.

If you have been reading the last few entries of the OFH despite their recent inconsistency, you have seen a thread talking about the hand or the providence of GOD.  For here of late whether it is having my good friend and partner share the stage with the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES or a dinner conversation that turns in to a revelatory conversation about connections, GOD’s HAND in things recently has been INCREASINGLY VISIBLE and more overtly providential.  And for many who I have been working with, sharing with, serving with, these providential revelations have STARTED with STILLNESS.

If you recall a couple of days ago, I shared a story of a pair of dear friends who have had the rug pulled out from under their work, 3 years of work.  They were preyed upon by nefarious actors, taken advantage of and had every right to lash out and seek retaliation.  Yet instead, they chose to be STILL, SEEK and LISTEN.  And remarkably, but not surprisingly, GOD replied with an amazing next step that will leverage all the knowledge cultivated into a new realm, a larger territory, a bolder possibility. What seemingly was about to be wasted was not just recycled but renewed!

Today’s message is this:

GOD WILL always sift through the CHAOS and bring the “next step”, the providential possibility.  But we will miss it if we don’t choose stillness even when seething seems more appropriate.

The context of that familiar passage is bookended by declarations of the amazingness and protective nature of GOD. So, our stillness is not a passive thing but rather a STATEMENT of FULL TRUST that GOD, who is EXALTED among the NATIONS and is my REFUGE and STRENGTH, will COME THROUGH!  (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Friends, none of us like uncertainty, controversy or catastrophe. None of us. 

But as followers of GOD, as His children we CAN REST in the chaos, we can trust that joy will eventually return, that something beautiful will soon peek through the soot left behind after being torched by others or by life.

We are simply called to SETTLE DOWN (Philippians 4:6-7 MSG) and START SEEKING (Matthew 6:33 ESV). 

For GOD is STILL there, especially when we ARE "STILL".

Love you all…

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