Our church staff had a collective moment of shock this week when we realized November is only a few days away. We wondered aloud, Where had the year gone?
If you're like me, this question makes our palms sweaty. We want to go into turbo mode. After all, there's still time to complete all those unfinished New Years resolutions! There's still time to accomplish all the personal and professional goals we've ever had!
The world affirms these thoughts, and tells us turbo mode is best—to achieve and grind and hustle until we’re satisfied with where we stand.
But God tells me something different in scripture.
He tells me that sitting and staying in this tension, of wanting to be somewhere other than where I'm currently standing, is an opportunity to re-align my heart with His.
We've likely heard Psalm 46:10 before: "Be still and know that I am God." It's a good verse in moments like this.
But the Christian Standard Bible translates it a little differently:
"Stop fighting, and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth. The Lord of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold." (Psalm 46:10-11)
It’s one thing to be held still—we might not move forward, but we’re kicking and screaming while God, our Heavenly Father, holds us in place. We're fighting where we're currently standing.
It’s another thing to be still—not fighting where God has us, but embracing it, leaning into it, even asking how God can use us to create goodness in this season. This time in our lives, today, that we’ll never get back.
The tension that we feel like we’re sitting in, between the now and the not yet, doesn't have to look like fighting. It can look like a deep knowing and trust in God’s divine purpose—it can look like stillness.
If you want to invite stillness back into your heart, pray this with me:
God,
You are exalted among the nations and exalted on the earth. Help me exalt you in my current season.
You are my stronghold and Protector. You are with me. Help me be with you, not only physically but in my heart, mind, and spirit.
I'm ready to stop fighting. Help me make peace with where I’m at today, and where I want to be.
Align my plans with your plans for me, and teach me to embrace the ways you are forming me now.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
