Stillness

As an introvert, I must admit my heart did a happy flutter when I was told I had to work from home due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Week One didn’t disappoint. I was excited to get to work in my sweats and accomplish a lot in the quietness of my house.

But as I begin to walk through the threshold of Week Three, I don’t feel so fluttery. I feel more like I’m being grounded. Many of my social privileges have been taken away in the last few weeks and I am confined to my home except for a daily walk and an occasional trip to the store.

A blanket of stillness has fallen all over the world.

Even if you are home with your spouse and children, there’s a kind of stillness — no school, no soccer games or gymnastics. Although there may be some hassles related to this new living arrangement, there’s no hustle and bustle. We are just home alone or with our immediate family.

In an instant, our social calendars were wiped clean. Stillness.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this stillness.

Stillness can be unsettling or peaceful.
The lack of familiar distractions can be uncomfortable because it enables us to more easily see issues we have been hiding from or neglecting to address in our lives.
But there’s also a clarity that can come with stillness — a freedom to focus on what truly matters.

God often speaks in stillness.
In 1 Kings 19:11-13, after Elijah had a major victory and defeated the prophets of Baal, fear gripped him, and he ran for his life from Queen Jezebel.
After this, when God spoke to Elijah, His voice didn’t come in a mighty wind, on in an earthquake, or in a fire, but in a still small voice.
And God’s question to Elijah was, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

In this season of stillness, perhaps God is coming near and whispering to each of us, “What are you doing here?” We have a fresh opportunity to truly look at ourselves.
Where do we want to change? What really matters? What relationships do we want to cherish and hold onto?

Stillness can heal.
Psalm 23:2 - 3 says, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”
If we cooperate with God’s leading, there is a restorative, healing effect of the stillness and peace God’s presence brings.

Stillness invites us to intimacy with God
Not only do our own issues become clearer in stillness, but God does too. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.”
The word know in this verse means the know intimately.

My husband is a tall man, and when I give him a bear hug, the side of my face falls on his chest right where his heart is. If I am still, I can hear his slow steady heartbeat. Intimate stillness.

As all the voices in this pandemic season urge us to keep our distance and wash our hands, God’s still small voice is beckoning us to draw near to him, hear His heartbeat and experience His peace.

I don’t want to come out of this time without being changed for the better. So, as I stare at Week Three of “shelter in place,” I am committing to remind myself that I’m not being grounded by this stillness, but rather invited into it -- to know God and His peace more fully.