Be Still

I know you probably read that headline on the devotion and rolled your eyes. With all that is going on in our world, and in our industry know it seems like it is difficult to be still physically. It is even more difficult to be still emotionally, especially if you read the paper in the morning or watch the nightly news. There is noise everywhere, and the tasks before me seem endless. (I notice how nice it would be to have time to clean my desk as I type this devotion.”

Even amid all that, God commands us to be still. God calls us to acknowledge that God is the one who watches over us, loves us, and holds onto us, when our strength fails. It is when we can be still, when we can find a minute to see the ways that God is present to us that our faith in strengthened.

The world-renowned priest and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen writes, “The mystery of God’s grace is that God often changes us in ways that we were not planning on and sometimes we do not have the eyes or ears to see or hear these changes in ourselves. I deeply believe that God is always active in us and always molding us into new people.” (from Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life New York: Contingent Books 2016 p. 85)

Can we find a way to be still amid the storm to take a moment to see all the ways that God’s grace is moving in these times even amid the noise and chaos and difficult events that sometimes unfold around us?

Prayer: Holy One, we come before you in these days with heavy hearts, with busy souls, crowded with noise, and anxiety, and worry. There is so much uncertainty, and fear, and sorrow in the midst of this pandemic, and in the midst of our lives. Grant us the grace to be still for a moment, to know in our stillness that your hand covers us, and that nothing in all of creation can separate us from your love and presence.  Amen