Originally published Sunday, 11 October 2015.
The longing for stillness is placed in our souls by God. As we get to know Him and learn who He is, He draws us toward Him. And those who long for the things of God, long to be still inside His presence. We want to be locked up tight, unavailable to anything that might hinder our relationship with Him.
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
-Proverbs 4:23
It all begins with the heart.
If we want to move within His presence, under the shadow of His wings, then our hearts depend on stillness.
Proverbs tells us that out of heart spring issues of life. If we don’t properly deal with matters of the heart, we cannot rest fully and wholly in the stillness of the Almighty.
Yesterday, we talked about confronting our brokenness. We know that brokenness is a matter of the heart because everything we suffer and face in life sticks there first. How we deal with issues that arise dictates who we are. It also has the ability to influence our witness.
When we allow brokenness to turn to bitterness, it’s as if it hardens the arteries – blood can’t flow and before you know it, all other organs are shutting down.
The things of God we are so desperate to emulate within our search to discover who we are in Him, and what gifts we possess to give away for His glory in the process, become clogged. We can’t flow in His grace and mercy in the stillness of His presence when we allow matters of the heart to be ignored.
If we want stillness within His presence, having the ability to move inside His will for us, then a good question to ask is…
Do I have negative feelings trapped in my heart?
Last night my husband and I were discussing a situation that’s been quite painful, and we both came to the conclusion that to move freely in the new thing, we must let go of hurt from the old.
If we intend to run in His stillness with His grace shining down as the sun, then we must allow grace to flow from our hearts, and that means letting go and letting God.
It’s a process that leads to good things.
Oftentimes, we aren’t even aware that we are carrying negative feelings. We become so wrapped up in justification for our situations that the validation we long for actually ends up serving as a boa constrictor – constricting the oxygen we need to breathe and hindering the flow of blood we require to survive.
I’m thankful the blood of Christ flows continually.
It flows to every area and performs spiritual open heart surgery.
We all need spiritually resuscitated from time-to-time.
However, open heart surgery requires a cracking of the chest. It’s painful.
It hurts to confess the pieces deep inside our hearts that hold us back. It can be painful to apologize, (Especially when you’re convinced you’re right.) but it’s never about the original circumstance in which we might be correct, it’s about how we live after that moment.
Humility is required for the blood to flow.
Whether we are right or wrong, we can never be too humble.
Everything that happens to us sticks in the heart, and so we must deal with every issue, large and small.
And then stillness comes…
Yay, God!
Love,
Jennifer
Today is day 10 of my October Series, The Struggle to Live a Still Life, to catch up on posts you might have missed, click here.
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