Recently my daughter bombarded into the bathroom while I was in there. She had a very urgent matter on her mind and was determined to find resolution. Nope I wasn’t surprised one bit when she invaded my supposed fortress of solitude. Not at all. And I especially wasn’t surprised when her pressing problem ranked pretty low on the totem pole of importance to me.
“Mom! I need your help! There’s a pink tea cup and piece of pie under the couch. Up against the wall real far! Can you reach it for me?!”
Even if I would have thought for a moment that the piece of pie was real I still wouldn’t have found this a pressing matter. It was fake pie, and I was in the tub. She suggested I could always dry myself off right at that moment to retrieve the missing pieces of her tea party set, but quickly got the point that I would be doing no such thing.
“You’ll just have to wait until I’m done.” I said. And with that she ran off. I’m quite certain in her absence she was down flat on the living room rug with her hand stretched under the sofa as far as it would go. This happened to be not far enough. Not far enough at all.
Minutes later she reappeared in the bathroom. Lucky for me. I was about to fall into a state of relaxation if she hadn’t intervened at that precise moment. But alas, that and the baby in the tub with me insured that wouldn’t occur.
“I’ll just wait for you right here,” my three year old chirped. Then she smiled brilliantly and leaned up against the wall. To wait.
A couple of years ago I felt like The Lord spoke very clearly and magnificently to my heart about some of the plans He had for my life and that of my family. For a full week I was so in tune with His voice, and He just kept revealing these wonderful words to my heart. I was pretty excited about it all, and I took to my journal, writing down each revelation as I felt it had been spoken.
I’m glad I wrote them down as it would be a good reference of hope in the years to come. You see, I was very happy and eager for the promises I felt God speak. Eager probably should have been listed first for it certainly ranked that way. I was indeed eager for the plans He had.
And then after that week life just continued to happen. Nothing exciting or eventful happened. You might think the weeks or months following a heart-to-heart with God would be filled with new developments or even some of those open doors you always hear about. But it didn’t. There weren’t open doors, or closed doors, or any door for that matter. There wasn’t a window of opportunity either. It was just the same old thing,week after week, and month after month. God had told me about all this stuff that was going to happen in my life! And then… All I heard was crickets chirping.
I’m a big believer in the whole “Be Still” thing. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s that verse people who are usually older and wiser than yourself will repeat to you when you enter a stale and uneventful time in your life, a desert place, or difficult, barren walk of life.
You know that you are to “Be Still.” And you’re pretty sure that means you’re to trust God, to trust that He is working things out for you. Ok.
Being still is like being on a diet or eating for heart health. You know deep down you’re supposed to do it, that it’s a really good idea and for the best in the long run, but follow through can be a rocky road. Chocolate cake tastes too dang good, and being patient and full of blind trust is crazy hard.
A couple of things I noticed about my little girl’s decision to wait for me were her attitude and her location. First off she did have to realize she couldn’t do it alone. She tried naturally, but became aware fairly quickly that her arms were just too short. She accepted that I would have to do it for her. Then she accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to do it right then. She’d have to wait.
So, she smiled. I think we miss that part about being still. It’s not just being still in body. It doesn’t mean we just stop trying to do something we cannot achieve on our own. It also means being still in spirit. It means to cease grumbling and complaining over the wait. It means a smiling spirit.
My daughter also chose to wait right there with me. She made the decision to stay within my presence. This isn’t always so easy for us all to do.
In my own life I felt like God had spoken to me with His will for my life in specifics. I felt as if it were promises He had for me. In the past when I’ve had God speak a promise and I didn’t see it fulfilled right away I had a tendency to do a couple of things. First I questioned if I heard Him correctly. I would begin to doubt my ability to hear His voice. Then I would pull back. I would distance myself. I felt uncertain of my future, my ability to hear God, and in essence our relationship in general. So I left His presence. I left slowly so that I barely noticed until I was separate from Him. Until I felt like it was too late.
The key to being still is to do so in His presence. To truly wait patiently you must reside within God’s will as He brings it to pass. You make the decision to remain at His side and walk with Him even when you can’t see where you’re going or how that direction will take you to the place He promised.
You just do. Because you know He will.
Diana Margadonna says
I was lead to this blog by a friend posting it on her facebook! What I have found is just AWESOME! it touches a lot of the aspects that I have been through but also provides a spiritual support! From the bottom of my heart I THSNK YOU! 🙂
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you so much for commenting. Your words encourage me. So pleased the blog found it’s way to you. Please feel free to subscribe as a follower via email and you can keep up with future posts in that way. Thanks again.
Sally says
THANKS FOR THE REMINDER.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you.
katie says
I found you blog from another site, and I’m so glad I did! I am in the middle of ‘waiting’ time, and so often, I wait just like you described – antsy, questioning if I heard correctly, feeling slighted when it doesn’t happen. I love your point – be still in His presence. So true. Thank you for your honesty and transparency!
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to subscribe via email to catch future posts. Hang in there in your waiting time. God is so very faithful.