Be still.

It’s a message I’ve been hearing for weeks, maybe even months. Like many people in our world, I was pushing myself so hard in every aspect of my life and instead of heading in a clear direction, I was spinning my wheels with no forward momentum.

What is especially remarkable to me is that I was receiving this message even before rededicated my life back to God; He was whispering to me this whole time but I allowed the noise of everyday life and all I “had to do” drown Him out. I finally started listening, and I. Just. Stopped.

I stopped trying to fix everything; I stopped pouring out my energy into people and places that it didn’t belong. My focus went inward; to what my heart needed, and to my precious family. Then, when I allowed my world to be quiet, I was able to hear Him whisper to the depths of my soul.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10)

I started to remember all I learned while growing up in the church; about walking in faith, knowing that God will guide my steps when I trust and allow Him to do so. God ALWAYS wants to guide our steps, but He waits for us to truly want it. You see, growing up in church, being a pastor’s kid, going to a Christian university, sliding right into a music minister position, interning as a youth pastor were all wonderful things for me; although I enjoyed it all, those actions were based in routine and obligation, not passion and sincerity. Because my heart wasn’t in it, I allowed frustration and disappointment from the church to bother me enough to walk away. I continued to live my life with dignity, morals and values, but God wasn’t much a part of who I was.

I grew weary of spinning my wheels; I have big plans for my life and huge goals and as I was being still, I realized that I needed to reprioritze my focus. I learned that if I am focusing on worldly success, I may attain it, but I can lose it in an instant. I learned that if I focus on money, I may acquire wealth, but if I lose it all, what will I have? Then God showed me that when I focus on Him, He will provide exceedingly and abundantly. (Ephesians 3:20-21) I learned that what He can give me, I will never lose and nothing can take it away. I learned that I can better share love and build people up when I am full of the purest love of all, God’s love.

Do I know exactly where I’m going yet?

Nope! But He does. And I know that with a willing heart and me taking these forward steps in faith, that God will guide my every step. And I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve truly trusted God with all my heart; before I said it and went through the motions because I was “supposed to”, now I know I need to.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will lead your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) I now know to trust and acknowledge Him in ALL my ways- in every action, with every person I meet, with every hug and handshake I give, with every monetary decision, with where I take my businesses and how I do my job. God can’t guide my steps completely if I won’t let Him in completely.

God has been blessing me tremendously over the last few weeks, and it just gets sweeter everyday. My path is growing clearer, my faith is getting stronger, my love is getting deeper and my passion to help build people up, help them heal and find the joy they deserve has never been more intense.

I’ve always felt driven and purposeful; but this God given purpose is a whole new level of amazing and I am so ready. Lord, I am READY!

“And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16

I am ready to speak the truth in LOVE. I am ready for these works of ministry that He has impressed on my heart and I am humbled that I have been called.

If you are struggling with what to do, where to go, who to be and why things aren’t working for you, I challenge you to be still. Stop the hustle and bustle, stop working so hard to do, to be, to figure out and to fix.

Be still.