The Art of Stillness

Hello hello hello! Thinking of how to sum up these past 3 weeks is DAUNTING. They have been humbling. Stretching. Joyful. Exhilarating. Filled with newness. All the things. There have been many highs and lows but God is good and His love is steadfast. It has brought me tremendous comfort, no matter the circumstances.

These are a few moments of joy I was able to capture from these past few weeks…

There are a million things I could share from these past few weeks but I want to share one of the most beautiful things the Lord has revealed to me. He has showed me the beauty of stillness and waiting for Him.

Stillness and Waiting

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7 ESV)

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10 ESV)

What a beautiful calling.

I believe we forget this truth. I absolutely do. For as long as I can remember, I have felt the heavy weight of striving on my shoulders. I have seen this trickle into many aspects of my life, but the biggest way I have seen this is in my relationships. I have had this idea that to be loved from others I need to: prove, strive, work, etc. It is a heavy expectation to carry around. And no matter what, I noticed I always fell short.

Very soon after arriving in Africa, He led me to Psalm 37:7 and it captivated me. I sat, meditated, prayed on it for a while. As I accepted this truth into heart and walked in it daily, I slowly felt the weight of striving lift off of my shoulders. And I began to see it transform my life in several ways. An invitation to be still and wait felt so completely contradictory to what I had always known. But then I started to understand that, apart from Him, from His Spirit, we know nothing but sin. Jesus did not utter empty words when He said…

“…Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

I understood that I MUST cease from striving, proving, working, controlling, manipulating my life and instead allow myself to simply sit and be still before the Lord to experience the fullness of what He was speaking to me every day, something only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. Coming to the Lord’s feet with a still, quiet heart is a great place to be. My stillness before the Lord does not mean that He ceases from doing the work in my heart that He promises. I have seen His hand faithfully sanctify, renew and bring me near to Him in incredible ways. This is just a snippet of something that the Lord has spoken to me but I encourage you also with this truth. Let us cease from striving. Let our souls be quiet before the Lord. Is it not His presence that calms the storms? Is He not the one that sets a table before us?

I wanted Pslam 37:7 to be something I am reminded of day by day, moment by moment…

We get to be still and wait for Him because in our waiting, He is always working.

With much love and much much more to come, Kaitlyn