Pause, silence the noise, and be still
I have a heard time clearing the clutter in my head and really being able to feel that peaceful calm that I know is available…if I can just stop thinking. This day 5 of a 7 day devotional painted a really good picture of how I can slow down and refocus my thoughts on what matters most.
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Spiritual Habits: Stillness
Imagine you’re standing on a hill by yourself. A stream trickles beside you while birds chirp happily above you. The sun beats down on your face while a gentle breeze blows by. Everything looks calm and quiet—but your mind is racing through a list of tasks you’ve left undone, problems you can’t solve, and brokenness you can’t fix. Although you’re in a tranquil place, the sound of your own thoughts is keeping you from enjoying what’s happening around you.
What would it take for you to pause, silence the noise, and be still?
Through stillness, we learn to pay attention to what God is doing in us and around us. But stillness is both active and passive. It involves allowing God to refocus our vision and tune our ears to His voice while we give Him the noise inside us. It requires surrendering our worries, concerns, and problems to God while allowing Him to refocus our hearts on Him.
As we practice this spiritual habit, we become more equipped to give God glory for His power at work in our lives because we start to notice what God has already been doing in our lives.
Action Step: Get away for a few hours this week and practice giving God whatever concerns come to mind. It’s okay if you have to do this repeatedly for a while. Just use this time to silence the noise inside you and get into the habit of making space to hear God’s voice.
Accompanying bible verse
NIV version
Exodus 14:14
14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Psalms 37:7
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary,who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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