“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.” (NJKV)
Sometimes you have to just sit still and rest in the Lord! When every part of your soul is screaming loud for you to take action, to assert yourself, to make your voice heard, the Holy Spirit says “Be still, My child; Just know I am with you. I am God.”
There is such power in stillness, and such power in simply reconnecting to our identity in God within that stillness. This is what the Holy Spirit is calling us into today. Because we are so accustomed to taking action when things are not in order, this feels like the most difficult thing to do! However, God established the Sabbath rest so that man would learn to stop and breathe, and recover from the stresses and strains of life; it is not a place of retreat, but a place of renewal and restoration; it is a deep pause, to get filled up with new creative power, the life force of heaven, the healing, refreshing presence of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered how it is that you could go to sleep feeling unwell and then wake up feeling whole? Or how just focusing away from a problem brings a spontaneous revelation of new ideas and solutions, or sudden breakthrough? I have seen it happen in my life, time after time, and this is the power of rest, the power of stillness. The more you focus on something, the bigger and more real it becomes, and this has been proved by scientists for many years. Looking away and taking a moment of Sabbath rest brings forth much fruit!
Dear friend, there is a stillness God is calling you into, the stillness of a heavenly rest, which will renew and restore you, and equip you for the season to come. Being still can be a challenge to many of us but there is a divine stillness which is already deep inside you. We have become accustomed to thinking and working without ceasing, and multi-tasking most of the time, so sitting still before God may not feel like an easy thing to do. Even when one becomes physically still, the mind can keep racing, traveling to other places and people, planning ahead for things to come and looking back at the past! Stillness of the soul is a connection with the eternal realm our spirits are always in tune with. Stillness draws in the dimensions of heaven – the stillness of God makes us a prime candidate for a heavenly, supernatural miracle!
So how can we do what God is telling us to do? How can we stop the racing of our minds and be still before God? We can do what the psalmist says and begin to turn our thoughts to God. I lean back, relax, and begin to breathe deeply in and out. The brain begins to receive oxygen, and begins to release “happy” hormones. I begin to focus on the goodness of my Abba Father, and to “know” that He is God. This means I focus on His awesome “God-ness”, His hugeness and omnipotence; His love and goodness, which is so wild, so beyond anything or anyone I could imagine or think about, and so manifest in every part of my life. I start experiencing joy as I think about Jesus and His love for me, how He has filled me up with His beautiful Spirit, and how He has opened the eyes of my heart to see. There is an active “stillness” taking place, as I continue to breathe in and out, and feel the depth and stillness of eternity. I feel God in me and with me in a powerful way!
Friend, we have an amazing and adoring Father, the Lord of Hosts and the creator of the universe. He is the eternal God of Jacob, our refuge and strength, and our very present help in times of need. Wherever you are in your life and walk with God, this is the perfect moment to dial down, take a pause, breathe in the Holy Spirit, and see the mighty resurrection power of Jesus, resident within us, and available to us any time. The Lord of the universe is with us; Yahweh God is within us. He will be exalted in every situation.
God is moving on your behalf, and you are going to see a breakthrough burst forth in your life imminently, in a way you never expected or imagined. Jesus has already won; He has already paid for your victory! What are you being called to do? To be still; to rest and to know who He is – almighty, never failing, everlasting, omnipotent Yahweh God!
Minoli Haththotuwa, 10 March 2021
