Be Still and Know

Be still and know.
You know when something pops into your head and you just can’t get it off your mind? Well, that has been me today. Be still and know. No matter what I’ve been doing or what I’ve been thinking about, it just keeps popping into my head.
Now if you come visit our apartment you might say, “Uh duh, Anna, you have that written on a sign hanging on your wall. Of course you’re going to think about it.” Well, yes, yes that is true, but I don’t typically walk around all day hearing, “Be still and know.”
Rewind back to the beginning of today. My day started off with me fumbling through my Bible, not sure what to read. If I’m being entirely honest, I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. As I was flipping through my Bible, I ended up on Psalm 46. And I’m not going to try and pretend, the only reason I ended up there was because the rainbow highlighting I’d previously done caught my eye. I began to read through the psalm and as I neared the end of it I read verse 10, “Be still and know that I am God.” “Hm, that’s nice, I thought to myself.” Then, my eyes moved to the margins and I bean to read a journal note I’d written for verse 10- What prevents me from being still? Beneath my question I had written to-do lists, worry, distractions (ex. phone, t.v. etc.), perfectionism, people pleasing. *Take comfort in knowing that He alone is God. His grace can quiet my mind. He is my firm foundation. Glorifying and enjoying His presence should always be my highest priority. Put down the to-do list, Anna.
After I read those words, I sat there for a few minutes and began to reflect. Have I been still at all in the past month? Have I simply taken the time to enjoy God’s presence? It didn’t take but a blink of an eye for me to answer those questions. No, I definitely have not.
Now for those of you who don’t know, both Chris and I started our first real jobs about a month ago. I embarked on my journey as a third grade teacher for high ability students and he embarked on his journey as an insurance agent. The past month has been a whirlwind, full of long hours, late nights, and a lot of perseverance. Now I could go into all the details of our jobs right now, but I’m going to choose to save that for another time.
After church today, I looked around the apartment and knew it needed cleaned. “Well I could just take a Sabbath tomor…”
Chris caught me in the middle of that thought, “What are you doing?”
“Trying to decide if I want to take a Sabbath today or tomorrow. The apartment really needs cleaned, especially if people are going to come over.”
He looked at me, “You are taking a Sabbath today. You need rest. You haven’t taken a true Sabbath since we moved in here. You need to make yourself.”
Then it dawned on me. He’s not wrong…Each week I have somehow ended up doing something/ working on Sunday. My mind just won’t shut off.
Now I’m sure many of you can relate. You go to work and work all day, but there is always more to do, so you work at night. You put in the extra hours, but the to-do just seems to continue growing. The weekend rolls around, and instead of resting, you begin the to-do list at home. Now I know, I don’t have kids yet, but the principle is still the same. No matter where you go, there is always something to be done. Will you ever feel like you are caught up? Probably not. Will you check everything off your to-do list? Probably not. But you know what, friend? Be still. Be still and know that God is in control. Be still and know that God is powerful. Be still and know that God is sovereign over all of your situations.
As I sat in God’s presence today, as I rested, I felt the river of life begin to flow back through my bones. The past few weeks I have been numb to God working because I’ve been setting Him on the back burner, rather than placing Him front and center. The scales fell from my eyes and I began to see his faithfulness in my life. I am fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a teacher! And not only that, but I am doing so in an incredible school where I am supported and cared for, which not all first year teachers can say. I am doing life with my best friend and biggest supporter, how blessed am I?! I haven’t had any full body reactions since school started and Lyme hasn’t prevented me from doing anything yet as a teacher- I even participated in the Color Run (walk) on Friday! It was the first physical activity I’d done in months, and though I felt weak at the end, praise God He gave me the strength and protected me from any reactions! Though I may have a long way to go, I know one thing to be true- Be still and know.
Friend, take some time tomorrow to be still. Let the river of life flow through you and restore you.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
~John 4:13–14