Be Still!

Hi guys! Grace and peace to you!

I've been straight-up negligent towards my blogging expectations, and for that I am truly sorry. However, my heart leaped this week at the chance to share with y'all my experiences with solitude, silence and stillness throughout this past year.

Possibly the biggest theme of my now-over freshman year of college was being still. Starting early in October, the Spirit began pointing out to the command to be still:

• "Be still and know that I am God..." -Psalm 46:10
• "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him..." -Psalm 37:7
• "But the LORD is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him." -Habakkuk 2:20

But there were two that have really played teacher in my soul to this day:

• "The LORD will fight for you, you need only to be still." -Exodus 14:14
• "The LORD your God is with you; he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17

As I wrestled with, meditated on, and lived my life in the light of these Scriptures, I was encouraged, filled up and sustained by the peace that this kind of radical stillness brings. So much of the American Dream is geared towards standing up and fighting for yourself, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and banking on your own will power to get you where you need to go. But there's a much different picture painted by Scripture and by the life of Jesus Christ: when accused, He doesn't rush to His own defense but trustingly maintains silence. When busied, He doesn't buckle down on a to-do list but retreats to solitary places where He can be alone with His Father. When praying, He is not "quick with [his] mouth... to utter anything before God." (Ecclesiastes 5:2). Rather, He thankfully presents His requests to God and acknowledges His sovereignty and His presence in the stillness.

What's hit me most profoundly is that this cannot come from us: quieting our own souls is not in our list of things we can do. It is a promise fulfilled by God; His faithful and enduring love quiets our hearts so that we may focus on Him. Our inner voices are hushed so that the voice of one who speaks truth may be heard, trusted and obeyed - all through Him and not ourselves.

I'm grateful and blessed to be able to say that stillness and solitude in the presence of the Risen Lord have been staples and crutches of my spiritual journey for over half a year, and have helped me live with eyes focused on Him through unique and unexpected trials as well as unprecedented and unparalleled heights of joy and peace.

With love,
Jackson