Prone to Fidget

So, I’ve got a problem - maybe you can identify with me. I’m struggling with this odd sensation that millions crave, but I inherently detest. You may have heard something about it. It’s called ‘being still’.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines the word ‘still’ as “devoid of or abstaining from motion”. Those of you with small children or teenagers know – being still is not something I, even as a young woman, excel at. I’m rather fidgety, to be completely honest.

As a small child, Sunday would come and my mother would march us into church, armed with a canvas bag filled with a 64-pack of Crayola's, a vast assortment of coloring books & my favorite: stickers. She knew us well enough to know that we would struggle through the painfully long sermon, and thus she came prepared. Today, 15 or so years later, I still fidget in church, but this time I’m paying attention. Now my struggle with stillness comes in the form of ridiculously detailed note taking. You should see my church bulletins. This miniscule handwriting combined with diagrams, all neatly laid out in a rigid outline. I am 19 years old and I am basically incapable of sitting still. Is there any hope?

I remember a skit performed at the church I grew up in – I couldn’t have been older than 8. There were a few adults, and they were busy – one man in traffic, another at work, a woman grocery shopping – and they were speaking aloud to God.

“What do I do with this deadline, God? I can’t possibly meet it.”

“God, I have too much on my plate. How can I cook dinner & help the kids with their homework and still have time for me?”

Something like that.

Then a voice (apparently, the voice of God, for it was a warm, disembodied baritone) echoed throughout the sanctuary – speaking to each of them, saying simply: “Be still – and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

That was the first time I heard that truth, and I haven’t ever forgotten it. It’s simple, but so very important to remember. We get so wrapped up in our daily lives, some of it at such a manic pace, that we forget. Regardless of how crazy the daily routine might get, we need to take time to be still & remember that God is who He is – and He’ll provide for all of our needs. God commands us to be still, right at the moment when we’ve reached our limit to remind us that He is limitless.

So the next time your world begins to crumble – when the soft drink machine is out of Diet Coke, when your blush compact falls out of your purse and disintegrates as it hits the floor, when that first premature gray hair makes its presence known… be still, take a time out, and know that He is God.