Be Still and Wait

I am generally an impatient person. Lately, my patience has been getting shorter and shorter. Especially with my sister. If you knew her, you'd understand. God has been really convicting me, telling me to have patience with her. But where do I find that patience? I've been praying and praying for it. I was looking in the section in my Bible titled "God's promises when you...", and I looked up impatience. I had done this multiple times before. But this time, I was getting a little desperate, and on my last rope, so I read a little closer. This is what I found: Psalm 37:7 "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"

I've heard the whole "be still" thing before. But what does it mean?? 

So now I have a problem, I have two commands and no idea how to carry either of them out. 

It says to "be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." Don't get me wrong. But I kinda think to have patience, I have to be still. And Vice versa. Both things I have am horrible at: Patience and Being Still. 

 Am I right to come to the conclusion that being still and patience are best friends?

Maybe to conquer patience, I must first conquer being still. Or maybe I'm not the one in charge of conquering at all. It's God. In Exodus 14:14, Moses tells the people "The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still." So here I am fighting my impatient attitude, and God's telling me to first be still. I have no ability to fight or even know the sinfulness in me. God has to reveal it to me. Once he reveals it to me, He has the battle plans, I don't. I know that if I press on, and allow God to fight for me and move in me I will win the battle. It is promised in Philippians "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

So, before God can conquer my impatience. I have to learn to be still. I have to stop worrying that I will never have patience. I have to stop worrying that the things that drive me crazy will never stop. I have to stop worrying that my sister will always act the way she does. And I have to be still. 

God told us in Psalm 46 to be still in the crazy. In this chapter everything is in chaos. The earth is giving way, mountains are falling into the heart of the sea, the waters are roaring and foaming, nations are in an uproar, kingdoms are falling. Then God says "Be still and know that I am God." 

Now replace the circumstances for your own. For me it would be no mom, and little insane sister who talks nonstop, laundry, school, and just everything, every little piece of the world the makes me feel a little more frazzled every day. 

And then God throws this in "Be still and know that I am God."

How can I be still when everything around me is crazy? With this there is another crazy thing God asks us to do: Trust. Trust that if we are still through the crazy he will fight for us. He will provide the patience. 

If I'm the one constantly searching in myself to find patience, I'm never going to find it, because I've forgotten I have none to provide. God does though, so I must search for my patience in Him while I'm being still and then He will provide me the patience I need, for the moment. For the moment when my sister comes running up, ruining my peace, screaming "Look, Look, LOOK!!!! Have you seen this? Can you come here for me? Please! Please!" He will provide that patience, but before He does, I need to be still before him, know He is God, and trust that my God is one who can provide patience even to the most impatient. Trust that my God is in control and even though it seems all wrong the way things play out, He is God. 

I think I'm coming to believe that once I trust, I will learn to be still, and once I'm still, I will have patience. And most importantly I'll be striving to be like Jesus ("Love is Patient"), and I will be trusting the God that fights my battles for me and each day, draws me closer to Himself.

A Treasure Inside Our Fragile Clay Jars

Lately I've been thinking about 2 Corinthians 4. This chapter talks about the treasure we have in Jars of Clay. Verse 7 says this "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." It goes on to say this "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed"Our treasure that Christ gives us is this: When life sucks so bad that you don't even know where or when you can come up for air because you're too afraid another wave is going to knock you down you have this promise: Your strength comes from God, not you. In the New Living Translation of the Bible this verse says  "but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure." We are fragile, ready to break, but yet, we are filled with the greatest treasure of all: Christ. And even if we don't have nearly enough strength to lift our weary heads and open our clenched fists in surrender, he guides us in the direction that we can. God is the power that holds us up and doesn't allow us to be crushed by the forces weighing down, heavy on your heart. He allows us to be perplexed; uncertain about the future, confused about the pain; but we are still  not in despair. We are persecuted, by forces that hate us for what we believe in, hate us because we have peace, but we are not abandoned. We are struck down, abused over and over again, but we will never be destroyed. Our power to endure comes not from us, but from Christ.  

So when you are pressed on everyside against a wall and you can't move and the space is getting smaller, you are crushed beneath the weight of pain and your heart begs for a little release, you are confused and uncertain, and you can't stand because of the despair, remember that the power you need for just one more breath is from God, not us. Hold on with all you've got because God is carrying you through this. Take it moment by moment, second by second, all the while looking to God, the one who is orchestrating a perfect plan for your life. You just have to wait and see.