November 18, 2020
I want to get up and run into my day. I want to be moving today and going somewhere and not be sitting here and waiting, because I have so much to do. I am literally itching to move and get on the attack doing something, anything, accomplishing things and getting things done. But, no, I need to wait and try to find some quiet. I need to still myself and try to still the house and allow my heart rate and thoughts to slow down.
Sometimes the house is so busy, so full of thoughts and noise and energy that I really can’t get anything done. Media noise is like an addiction that grows on you and can take control of you if you allow it. I need to know the weather, but the weather turns into news, and news turns into jokes, and jokes turn into entertainment gossip, and before you know it, time is gone. It is eaten up, and the time you thought you had in the early morning disappears into a long line of commercials. TV is a poison that fills the house with chatter when it would be so much better to be quiet. It mutes the voice of the Holy Spirit in your soul that longs to speak to you.
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.1
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.2
The Lord said [to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.3
Perhaps that is why God asked Moses to go up to the mountain alone to deliver His law. He couldn’t hear God’s voice or see His face in the tumult of the masses. He had to find a place alone. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness before he could fulfill God’s calling to prepare the way for the Lord. And Jesus rose before dawn and found a quiet place to commune with His Father.
The early morning time is so important, finding that quiet place to begin the day alone and in prayer. Not talking furiously with God and asking Him to do what we want Him to do, but emptying our thoughts and then just waiting. For peace. For quiet. For that moment when we know that God is in control and will take care of it all. That moment when we free ourselves of the worries and stress and busyness of the day before it all begins, to find that perfect place of tranquility.
That is where we find the strength for all that running around. That is where we find the patience to listen to the unsaid words of others and really understand them. That is where we find the peace to face a hectic day and not crash halfway through, either running out of energy, running out of patience, or running out of peace.
When I was younger, I had boundless energy. I could just jump up out of bed and race through the day. I always slept well and always had the energy for everything I needed to do. But as I have aged, I have learned how important it is to pace myself and move a little more slowly and gracefully through my day. If I continue to rush headlong into things, they often hit headlong into me, and I have to stop and nurse a bruise or pick up a mess or retrace my steps so I can walk a little more sure-footedly through my day.
Morning is the best time to get organized, first spiritually, then physically. It is the best time to get connected with the source of my power to have the power I need to make it through my day.
So I will sit down and still my body. I will empty out my racing thoughts. I will change my worries into prayers and place the day in God’s able hands. He knows that I need that time of peace before I move into my day. I will cast all my cares on the Lord to have a stressless, truly happy, really good day.
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