Just BE

In Orange County, we have a very hard time just being.  We are always doing, always trying to achieve, be successful, move up the corporate ladder, look better then everyone else, rushing around to buy the latest clothes, get the latest car. 

But do we ever just

stop.

No, because what would we hear if we did?  What are we afraid that we would hear?  Perhaps lies from Satan like, "You are not worth anything."  "You will not amount to anything."  Why else the drive to prove, to become, to achieve? 

If we really believed God loved us, really and truly, we would cease the striving.  Solomon called it "chasing after the wind." 

The elusive dream, the ivory tower, the Disney romance.  It's all just out of reach isn't it?

So we rush around and try to ignore the cries of our own souls.  We won't let ourselves just be. 

I had an exercise for a class at Biola that I had to do, assigned by Dr. Pickett, fabulous professor, and he wanted us to sit in silence for an hour at a time.  It was a "prayer project."  And there were four of them I believe.  It was so so hard for me at first.  I don't think I had ever in my life before just sat in silence. 

I once read we do not become fully formed in our souls or as human beings until we learn to meditate, to be, to sit still. 

I learned from that prayer project how to sit still, how to just be, how to slow down.  Since doing those exercises I have become much more sensitive to the voice of God.  It's like taking out ear plugs for the first time.  You can finally hear! 

My late husband had the hardest time with this.  He always had to be reading or with his ipod in listening to music or listening to something.  He admitted he could not be alone with his own thoughts.  But why?  Perhaps because whenever there is a dull moment Satan might try to say something to us.  And he does.  It is true, "Idle hands are the devil's playground." 

But as long as we stay busy we also cannot hear the voice of God.  Have you heard the acronym "B.U.S.Y. stands for buried under Satan's yoke."

But we think we're shinning for God.  God would want me to be successful right?  To live life fully? 

Yes we need to work and achieve but we also need rest.  Thus why he created the Sabbath.  It was a command, not a suggestion.  Because God knew how much we could handle.  But now no one takes  a break and we have an epidemic of mental health illnesses in America.

I read recently in a grieving book, "Depression is our body's way of telling us to SLOW DOWN."  lol I had never seen it that way.  Depression is a way our body forces rest on us.  That is why anxiety and depression are always paired.  We worry, worry, worry, "What will they think of me?  Do I look ok?  Does that person like me?  What will I do with my future."  And then bam!  We crash lol. 

A good book on this subject is, "When People are Big and God is Small."  I highly recommend that anyone with anxiety read it.

It helps us replace the fear of man with the fear of God and put things in perspective.  Why would we fear the created more then the creator?  We are but ants compared to God.  And anyone we let control us is an ant compared to God!

And when people are to big we worry to much. 

That is why the Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

So stop rushing around trying to achieve, to become, to succeed.....just be.  Try to sit with yourself and ask, "God what are you trying to tell me that I have been running from for so long?  What do you want from me?  Where do you see my life going?"  Cause he does see your life going somewhere, you just have to ask him :)  God bless!