Be-Cast Episode 2: BE STILL
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So, here we are with week 2 of the podcasts but with our first week of a BE theme. Naturally, it only made sense for us to start with the concept of Being Still. I mean, isn’t that what this is all about? (Grin.)
Right now many of you are probably saying to yourself, “Oh great…something else to learn to do…Be Still!” Or some of you might be saying, “No way, I do not want to Be Still…it’s too hard.”
Friends, please hear me when I say that learning to Be Still is so, so worth it! Learning to Be Still has been the journey that our dear, heavenly Father has had me on for almost 10 years. And so, I come to you with the ability to empathize with each and every one of you, even though our stories are different and unique from one another.
Every week we want to start with truth. The Bible verse for this week is Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Print out the printable of this verse below and put it somewhere to remind you of truth and perhaps commit to truth. It’s meaning is so rich! Think of it this way — Monica’s International Version: “Stop striving instead sink down, let go and relax and learn to know that He is God by experience.”
So, what does being still really mean?
The Hebrew term for the word still is raphah, which literally means “to be weak, to let go, to release.” John Parsons says still means “to cause yourself to let go or let yourselves become weak.” This idea of being is more than just sitting still. Being still goes beyond an action and is more a way of being or thinking. (tweet)
A simple process that we will visit often is that thoughts or language will form our beliefs, which will in turn shape our behaviors. (tweet) We have to understand that our behaviors do not shape our thoughts…our thoughts shape our behaviors. It’s that flip-flop we keep talking about. I believe that we have bought into a culture that perpetuates the idea of busy-ness and doing, hoping to find fulfillment and contentment — but that is not the case.
We can’t put the cart before the horse. God doesn’t say, “Hey listen, be busy, get frazzled, and then know that I am God.” Instead He says, “Be Still and in being still you will know that I am God.”
We have to have faith first — and then God reveals Himself to us.
Here’s what I have learned to hear God say to me:
“Hey Sara, I know you are not perfect and have not asked you to be so. Come to me just as you are and right where you are. Quit waiting for the perfect time to sink down. Be weak in the knees now and fall at my feet. I will rise up in you and show you how much I really love you. Allow me to show you that true joy comes through me and not what you do. I will never leave you nor forsake you. My thoughts and ways are higher than yours and they will not fail. Though the journey will not always be easy, it can be filled with peace that passes all understanding. And by embracing these truths, you will be more of a light then you could ever imagine because it is MY light through you and not you trying to become brighter by doing.”
You do have to make a choice though — to allow Christ to work in you.
Here’s the deal, we will look at ourselves many times in life and what we are not happy about or not contentment about and say one of two things – oh well or I will. (tweet) What will you do? What is your choice? I promise, you will not regret choosing to learn to BE.
To wrap things up for this week as we will every week, we do not only want to share ideas, truths, stories, but we also want to share some practical applications; ways to take each concept and pull it out of your pocket so you can use it each week. These applications will encourage us to learn how to BE in God.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
1. Make 2 lists of yourself:
- All the things you are doing (the roles you play, titles, jobs)
- All the things you are (be careful, because your do list is different from your be list)
2. How do you want to write your legacy? How do you want to be known?
3. Take 10 minutes a day…every day to just sit in silence asking God to reveal your need to be still and how to actually become still.
Thank you for taking the time to visit us this week. We look forward to meeting here again next week and for many weeks to come Lord willing. But in the meantime, God is giving you permission to be weak, to not have all the answers, and to not have to be so busy.
PRINTABLE: Download this week’s printable and put it up everywhere you can — the fridge, your bathroom, your car. Let it permeate your mind and heart and soul.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Here are a few other resources that we think are awesome regarding BE STILL:
1. The Key to Staying Sane in a Spinning World by Ann Voskamp
2. Listen to this! This is totally unconventional, but it completely has blown us away. This is an hour-long audio of the sounds of crickets, slowed down to a human life-span speed. It will BLOW. YOU. AWAY. Listen to it, and imagine how harmonious and holy our lives would sound if we just gave ourselves permission to be still.
3. A Million Little Ways. This is an incredible book by Emily Freeman that I’ve just started reading but is already speaking my language. Read this little excerpt — it’s so perfect:
We can hold and see a published book, a finished song, a canvas hanging in a museum. But what if art was bigger than simply the work of our hands? What if the true artistic work is being fully ourselves in the presence of others?
What if the book, the painting, the meal, the presentation were all simply evidence of a deeper art happening within the soul of an artist?
Art is what happens when you dare to be who you really are.
You are all amazing. Embrace it and exhale!
Sara
What do you think? Is being still something you think you can practice this week? What are the challenges? Leave us a comment at the bottom right and let us know what you think!