Learning How to be Still ......

When I was a child growing up in a church-going family, I remember being in church several times each week, and that's probably an understatement. The church was truly the place where our extended family lived; and that relationship, for the most part, was held in high esteem and nurtured.

Like most families with children though, being in church all of the time could be challenging for the parents; but even more so for us as children. We had the attention span of a child in church - probably because that is what we were, and that just didn't seem to work out well for us. Countless times after our "endurance" wore off, our mother would pat us gently on the leg, and tell us to be quiet. The second time she would look toward us and smile, and again admonish us to "be quiet." When patience really wore thin and we were causing too many distractions or making too much noise, she would look us in the eye, make a stern face, and say "be still," meaning don't move a muscle, don't talk, eyes straight ahead.

I hadn't even thought of those times until I found myself in a place to be reminded. Several very close confidantes (and my mother, of course) have been admonishing me to Be Still lately. The Holy Spirit also has been giving me that message. But, that's tough for me because while I know the scripture, "Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10), I evidently kept proving to myself and others that I have no clue how to live it out completely.

You see like a lot of us, I have also felt better about myself and my life when I am going in hard - being ambitious, using a lot of energy and challenging myself to complete and do well at something. During most of my career, I have been achievement and results driven; sometimes measuring success based on whether I got the contract, earned the promotion, won the contest, or earned an "A." I didn't see a problem with this because of course, that's how the world measures personal value, right?

Well, if I've learned nothing else since choosing to fully pursue my God-Ordained purpose, I have learned not to EVER use worldly activities as a measuring stick. God's ways definitely are not "our" ways.

During my path to purpose it became necessary for me to have much more of God - more wisdom, more Holy Spirit guidance, more knowledge - and to gain that, I had to have much less of "that" part of Nina. To live on purpose, I had to purposely live for God. That meant less focus on measuring my success in terms of what I could count and see, and more focus on measuring my success on how obedient I was to God and how much better I was at "watching and seeing" God's activities in my life. It also required me to build and strengthen my relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and Bible Study, while practicing "hearing from God" to gain guidance and direction beyond the general scriptures in the Bible.

Things like competitiveness, stress, worry, measuring our success through our own definitions and being overly controlling of life circumstances, can cause us years of pain and hurt because we are still relying on our own limited ability and not God's unlimited capabilities. Trust me I know this because I had to walk it out; and I am still being delivered from things that are of the flesh and not of the Holy Spirit.

I share this for all of you who truly want to discover who you are, why you exist and what you can accomplish. Take some time right now to learn to lean on God, and most importantly to BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. 

Countless scriptures remind us of the benefit of that. Here are just a few of my favorites to  guide you....

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act - Psalms 37:5

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

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean to your own understanding - Proverbs 3:5

The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord established his steps - Proverbs 16:9

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing - John 15:4-5



Published Writer - Church Hurt Ain't No Joke (book and workbook), Where Have All the Young Ones Gone: Connecting and Reconnecting Young Adults to God and the church; Why Yes to God: Essays on Life and God by Young Adults

To purchase or to order discounted bulk or signed copies, please contact: 
Rev. Dr. Nina Marie Thompson at NICHEPR2018@GMAIL.COM. You may also order copies of all three books at Amazon.com.

Speaker - Positioning for Purpose, Getting to God, Why Yes to God?   

Workshop Presenter - Church Hurt Ain't No Joke, Say What You Mean, Why Do I Get Soo Mad?, Recognize Your Power, Plan Your Future, From Hurt to Healing



Rev. Dr. Nina M Thompson, 
Rose of Sharon Ministries, Inc.
314-550-2004 (for prayer)
https://www.facebook.com/roseofsharonytg/
roseofsharonnow@gmail.com