A Time of Stillness
A time of stillness is not a suggestion - it’s a directive for our good. Stop. Take a deep breath. And ask God to quiet your heart as you reflect on Him.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God is not in a hurry. He knows exactly who He is and what He’s doing. Frenzy and chaos are not His companions. Like a performer spinning multiple plates at the ends of long sticks, you’re a hard-working mother balancing multiple roles at once. The whole concept of slowing down runs counter to your reality, doesn’t it?
“Think of how I can help God if I’m living at high speed,” you might rationalize. “After all, isn’t God better served by industrious wives and moms who race through life with the accelerator pressed to the floorboard?”
No, actually, He isn’t. God is not frantically looking for volunteers to do His work hoping for some help. He’s not wringing His hands, wishing that we would do what He cannot without us. Our task as His disciples is a fairly simple one. Pleasing Him is simply a choice we want to embrace.
“Do your best to be without sin and without fault,” the apostle Peter urges. “Try to be at peace with God” (3:14, NCV). We need to stop racing and take time to rest. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, NCV). Be still? It’s not a suggestion. It’s a directive and it’s for our good.
Look at us—we’re under so much pressure that the veins in our necks are bulging. Our to-do list is so long that it drags the floor. We need to slow down. We must slow down. God is better served by a woman who takes time to reflect. He is looking for a woman who draws strength from her heavenly Father and listens to His promptings. A woman who thinks God’s thoughts and knows the individual needs of each member of her family. This woman is willing to give valuable time to her husband, children, and friends, not just brief moments on the fly.
She will be a woman who is able to serve her family when she meditates on what honors the Lord. Does this seem impossible? Take a deep breath. Ask the Lord to quiet your heart as you carve out time to reflect on Him. Then listen to what He says to you. “If you will be calm and trust me, you will be strong” (Isaiah 30:15, NCV).
By Bobbie Wolgemuth. The excerpt above is found in the pages of the Mom’s Bible: God’s Wisdom for Mothers, with General Editor, Bobbie Wolgemuth. Used with permission.