Stillness by Christine Smith

Psalms 62:1 For God only my soul waits in silence. From Him only comes my salvation.

You can’t hear God speak to you if you never shut up. He speaks when you get quiet before Him. When you allow His Spirit to quiet your spirit. You don’t need to hear from people; you need to hear from God, so silently submit and wait on Him. If you can’t learn to be silent before God, you won’t know what He thinks or believes about anything.

Psalms 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation, my defense and my fortress, I shall not be greatly moved. God is your defense, He is your answer, so stand strong in Him.

Psalms 62:3 How long will you set upon a man that you may slay him, like a tottering wall, like a leaning fence?

When hindrances, harassment, and persecution come, you want to be able to press through the trial. Learn to be quiet before God and wait in silent reverence upon Him, to hear what’s needed in your situation.

You have to learn to hear when things are going crazy and all out of whack. Satan does want to take you out. So be silent and stand in God’s presence as long as it takes; it can not be hurried. Just wait till the presence of Jesus is real and profound. Listen with your whole attention, no distractions, to what the Father has to say. You have to know that man’s opinion does not matter, nor does your own; only God’s opinion matters. It is what will cause you to prevail. You deal with your thoughts and just press in to hear. It’s the best way to hear clearly, just wait until the presence of the Lord covers you, and you can rest quietly with your mind still.

God moves in the stillness and speaks clear instruction. Waiting, arms raised toward heaven in surrender, peacefully enjoying God’s presence and power. It’s a learned process, but the more you wait on the Lord, the easier it is to slip right in and enjoy the waters. God will always welcome you there with Him. He’s never too busy for you, He longs for you to join Him.

If this isn’t something you are comfortable with, just keep pressing into the stillness of God. Sometimes the hard part is just to stop talking. Sometimes you have to tell your thoughts to shut up, but it does get easier.

We were never meant to come to God, always talking and telling Him what we need. It was designed by God for us to have a conversation with Him. We have all had that friend that never shuts up so that we can get a word in, and we know how annoying it can be. We are fortunate that God has more patience than we have. But you will never get the council of God if you don’t learn to be still and have an actual conversation with your Heavenly Father.

Learn to submit to stillness and gain the wisdom you need, and by the way, it’s easier to do if you don’t wait until you’re in the middle of a crisis. Silent submission is a good thing.

Learn it in peace mode and not stress mode. Now, go have a quiet time with the Lord and just be still.

As an artist, Christine considers herself to be a barefoot, backwoods, country artist. As a writer, she often waxes nostalgic with a Huckleberry Finn style of text. As a minister, her friends call her “preacher woman.” But most important of all, God calls her – His!