be.

Come to Me, you who are weak
Let My strength be yours tonight
Come and rest, let My love be your bed
Let My heart be yours tonight

Peace be still, Peace be still
Please be still and know that I am God
and know that I am God

Come empty cup, let Me fill you up
I'll descend on you like a dove tonight
Lift your head, let your eyes fall into Mine
Let your fear subside tonight

-Rush of Fools "Peace be Still"

Is it possible to forget to simply be? One of the definitions Webster's gives of the word be is to "remain undisturbed or uninterrupted. I think so often, myself included, we get caught up in everyday life and we forget to be. We forget that sometimes we need to just slow down. I know one of my biggest problems is that I don't always make room of uninterrupted time. It's not that I don't want to or that I don't desire my relationship with God to grow deeper...it's that I forget. I spend my free time reading, or Facebooking, or catching up on my lengthy blog list. I hate sitting still and just listening to the quiet. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. But, I believe that sometimes (okay...maybe more often than not) God wants us to enter into this "awkward and uncomfortable" silence so that we can listen for his still, small voice. I used to think that if God really wanted to tell me something, he would yell it really loud. He'd say, "LAUREN! I WANT YOU TO GO DO THIS!" and there would be no way to deny it. I also imagined some echoing. Like "LAUREN, Lauren, lauren..." Something like that. But, I've come to discover that God doesn't always do this. He doesn't write it out in the dirt. I mean, I think it's crystal clear when he wants you to do something, BUT I think it's also easy for us (me) just to ignore it and get on with our lives. And then, we grow immune to hearing and we just...don't.

I like to be in control of the situation. Like, when I'm doing a group project...I normally end up doing most of the work. Because then I know it's going to get done and I know it's going to look like I wanted it to. Nice and neat. So, this whole concept of being doesn't work well. Because it requires me to be still...calm down...and turn myself over and lose control to God. Which isn't a BAD thing. It's actually really good and we should all try it sometime. That doesn't mean it's easy. I'm just saying what the Bible says. Exodus 14:14 says "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Psalm 37:7 says "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." Psalm 46:10 says "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Zechariah 2:13 says "Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling." It's pretty obvious we need to slow down and be still.

I mean, the Bible says so.

When we're in the middle of a battle (figuratively or literally), we need to just be still and listen to God. He knows EVERYTHING. He even knows what I'm going to eat tomorrow for lunch. Surely he knows what is best. Like, sometimes it's the easiest just to be and listen for God when nothing else is going on. When it's all good. I can give over some of my control then. But, like, when everything's going wrong, I'm failing Astronomy, and have a HUGE test tomorrow, I don't really want to trust anyone with any of my control power. I like to make sure I know what's going on. But that's not what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to give it all to God and listen for direction from HIM. And then. Supposedly. If this book is right, he'll work it all out. It might not be the way we wanted, planned for, or anticipated, but he has a plan and we just need to trust him.

We just need to be.

Still.

Quiet.

Trusting.

Un-control-freak-ish.

Just...

Be.