Be Still: Learning to Wait While God WorksSample

Boats have anchors to keep them secure in the storms, and we are much the same when it comes to the storms of life, except instead of a heavy piece of iron, our anchor is the hope we have in God. When life around us is in chaos and a storm is brewing, we can find peace and hope in God if we allow Him to be our anchor and hold us.

Have you ever just cried out to the Lord, “Hold me! I need you! Comfort me!” God is our Father, and just like a young child (even my teenager) still needs a parent to comfort them, we still need our Father to comfort us.

In the gospel of John, Jesus tells us this: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

This is an invitation to cultivate inner peace, to anchor ourselves in the unwavering certainty of God's presence. To find moments of quiet amidst the chaos where we can reconnect with our faith and draw upon its reservoirs of resilience and hope. Jesus has overcome the world!

Too many times we waste our energy and voice on the storm. But the storm is not in a position to hear our cries! That’s where God is! He is ready to accept our grief and offer comfort; to hear us and respond by giving us strength, to listen to our prayers and provide an answer (which is usually “Yes,” “No,” or “Not right now”).

Have you ever heard the story of bamboo? According to legend, after farmers plant bamboo seed, they water and fertilize it—and then nothing happens for the first year. The second year they water and fertilize it—and still, nothing happens. The third and fourth years they water and fertilize it—and, you guessed it, nothing happens. And then, sometime during the course of its fifth year and over a period of merely six weeks, the bamboo tree grows roughly ninety feet. The question is: did it grow ninety feet in six weeks, or did it grow ninety feet in five years? I believe it grew those ninety feet in five years because, had the farmers not had the perseverance to keep caring for the crop day-in and day-out each year, despite their lack of immediate results, then there would be no bamboo tree at all.

Our faith often works like that bamboo tree. When we continue to pray and work on ourselves, pray and wait, pray and be still, pray and know that He is God, we put ourselves in a place where God is working, and growth is coming!

Here are your journal prompts for today:

How easy or difficult is it for you to believe the growth you want to see is coming?

How easy or difficult is it for you to “Be Still” in the midst of the wait?

How easy or difficult is it for you to remember that God is your anchor and to treat Him as such?

How easy or difficult is it for you to think of God as your Heavenly Father who hears and responds to you when you cry out to Him?