Being Still

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

The other day, a friend from church asked why I have a bunch of little things hanging on my waist. I explained to her that it was given during a women’s retreat and was supposed to be a reminder to be still and know God is God. I have to admit that I do wear it but it hasn’t made me more still than other days. The fact that she asked about it confirmed that I should write about being still though. Today’s staff meeting’s agenda also had the verse above. It’s all I needed to confirm what I thought the Lord was saying to me two weeks ago.

I was again in Room A3 at Lanna Resort (053 365 222) doing my once a month time of quiet. As I lay in bed, I noticed a constant buzzing. It was like a million bees were just behind me. The buzzing was interspersed with slight thumping sounds on the wall of the room. What was that all about? I looked behind me and sure enough, there were hundreds of bees out there! I slightly panicked as I considered the possibility of them getting in through the closed windows. I contemplated calling someone to come with a BIG SIZE bug spray to zap all of them dead. Nah, I didn’t want LOTS of dead bees on my conscience. I didn’t want my quiet to be interrupted either! But, how could I remain calm and still with buzzing bees seemingly knocking to be let in? I wasn’t about to give in to them so they’d stop pestering me! Still, how could I continue with my time of quiet? Quiet was the last thing it was! I also noticed that English speaking men were talking loudly outside. Because it was in English and not Thai, it meant I could eavesdrop on their conversation. They were harder to ignore. “God,” I asked, “couldn’t you give us a quiet time like we always have?” I don’t know which came first but I began to understand that in the midst of the noise, the Lord was teaching me to be quiet and still before Him anyway. Secondly, because they were bees, each thumping sound they did seemed like the Lord was saying just “BE, BE, BE, BE,” etc. It is amazing what our minds can do with the Lord’s help. After a while, the talking men were still there and the buzzing bees remained knocking but they no longer bothered me. It was like when I had a sleeping baby and he’d wake up from his nap. The TV or music could be on and I could be on the phone talking but I’d hear my son’s cry. Just as I did then, presently I successfully tuned out the unwanted noise and tuned in to the one I wanted to hear. AH, what a relief! We can be still before God in the midst of the clamor (literally and emotionally) of our lives. I have so much to do as we prepare to leave, I have a friend whose life is slipping away, and I have another friend getting her surgery today. Life is FULL and full of distractions. Yet, I, we, can be still.

You know what I love about being still? God’s presence is WONDERFUL (plus all the superlatives you can think of COMBINED!) but what touches me most is that He always tells me He LOVES me. And He tells me in such a way that I understand well. Like the other day, He said He loved me like a ripe, juicy mango. And I knew exactly what He meant because mangoes are my favorite fruit and nothing beats the juicy ones. Ever wonder what Papa God will tell you? Be still. He loves it when we are.