Be still

Propped up on my bed on a lazy Sunday afternoon, watching the sun set beyond the allotments at the back of our house, I can completely relate with the phrase ‘the calm before the storm’.  In this cosy moment of contentedness and quiet, I am acutely aware that I am effectively standing at the bottom of what is proving to be a pretty hefty mountain looming before me: what I refer to as a ‘big week’. I’m sure we all have ‘big weeks’, though I am always surprised at the way in which ‘busyness’ seems to accumulate in a small space of time. The important dates in my diary somehow always manage to bunch up together in a wave effect, not dissimilar to the traffic on the M25 (chunks of heavy, standstill traffic which suddenly, incomprehensibly clears into an empty motorway). There are days, weeks even, of free and easy breezing, followed by a short sharp burst of frenzied activity, which knocks the air out of your lungs and leaves you feeling exhausted at the end of it.

It seems to be the nature of our society that busyness and activity are signs of a purposeful person. Someone who clearly knows what they want from life and who squeezes the juices from it with gusto. I’m always amazed by the amount that people pack into 24 hour periods, measuring myself and my ‘productivity’ against theirs and often finding myself to fall short in comparison. Because a busy person is a successful one, right? A jam-packed diary must equate to a fulfilled and happy life…

But, what if it doesn’t?

What if we put the emphasis in a different place? I believe the fullness of my life is measured not by the quantity of activity that I manage to pack in to my diary, but rather by the time I take to be still. To stop and breathe.  It’s in these moments of stillness that my heart becomes one of gratitude and thankfulness, because  I appreciate what I have now. I stop searching for something more, stop trying to better myself in every aspect of my life, but instead appreciate the blessings that are poured generously into my life on a daily basis.

Yes, this week is going to be a busy one. Yes, I feel as though am gearing myself up for a marathon seven days. BUT, I choose to find the moments of still and quiet amidst the activity. To always remember to have a thankful heart, acknowledging what I have and not what I ‘have not’. I choose this, because He told me to: 

“Be still and know that I am God. I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world” (Psalm 46:10)

I don’t know what sort of week lies before you, but I fervently pray that you will find satisfaction in the times of stillness and quiet. That you will recognise that He delights in you. For a couple of moments stop searching; stop pursuing. Appreciate what you have and just be.