Robbers of Stillness...

 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want...He Leads me beside the still waters. " Psalm 23:1-2

There are many times God asks us to be still when He is trying to usher us into a new season of our lives.  Stillness is a time of inner preparation and God-given peace.  Queen Esther, before becoming the Queen of Persia, had to go through 12 months of preparation before she could appear before the king.  During this time, she learned all about the king, mannerisms of palace life, and lastly, how to look beautiful for the king.  It might have seemed like a long year for Esther, but in reality, this was the time for her to sit back and enjoy getting ready for her big moment.  If she had not used this time wisely, she would have found herself unprepared for her moment of destiny which could have ended in disaster. Lack of preparation and stillness on her part could have caused the king to overlook her, marry another, and with that, the Jewish people living in the Persian kingdom would have been annihilated.  Stillness is a time for God to prepare and polish us, a time to listen to that sweet and familiar voice speaking to us and ministering to us on a daily basis. It's a time to minister before Him, taking every part of Him into our spirits.  At times, in this stillness, moments can seem long and mundane in the natural world, but in the spirit, God is preparing us for something new.  We are not accustomed to being still, especially in the busy, fast-paced world in which we live.  We are used to making things happen.  Yet, stillness in God requires us to wait even more than ever as He begins to move mountains on our behalf.  The enemy of our soul does not want us to experience stillness, but wants to fill us with worry, anxiety and desperation.  He doesn't want God's peace to fill our life, but wants to plant confusion in us among many other things.  I have found two things in my own life that can easily rob me of stillness if I'm not careful, but I've also learned how to combat them. They are as follows:

1. Worry/Anxiety
Nothing pleases the enemy more than to plant seeds of worry and anxiety in our minds.  He knows that if he can make us doubt God's provision and God's plans for us, he can trap us within the confines of your own mind.  Thoughts such as Is God really with me?  Am I forgiven?  How am I going to accomplish that on my own?  What if I'm doing the wrong thing? What if this doesn't happen?  What if this really happens?  are just some of the thoughts that try to take us captive. The way to overcome worry and anxiety is found in Philippians 4:6-7:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

We see that prayer and thanksgiving are extremely important in destroying seeds of worry and anxiety. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Prayer not only changes things, but it changes us as a person. When we are worried and anxious, we cannot focus on what God is doing in our life, but we end up focusing on what God is not doing in our life. Prayer shifts us back into the right gear. God takes control of our thoughts and destroys the negative seeds that the enemy is trying to plant. He replaces them with seeds of faith.  Also, thanksgiving is key.  We must thank God for what we already have and thank Him for prayers that are not yet answered.  I have found that thanking God in advance for unanswered prayers gives me such a peace that I can't explain.  When I thank God for a job that I don't yet have or a miracle that I can't yet see, I get an overwhelming sense that its done already. I feel like it's already happened.  That's what a spirit of thanksgiving can do!

2.  Distractions
When I visited Italy for the first time, I was warned by many to be cautious of pick-pockets.  I heard that one strategy of these thieves is to create a diversion to distract a tourist so that someone else can come behind them and take their money.  Often times, it is the same for us.  The enemy sends distractions our way so that He can swoop in and rob us of our inner peace. Sometimes we don't even realize it has happened until afterwards.  We are left wondering, How could that happen?  Distractions come in the form of people, problems, and non God-given dreams and ideas.  Often times, we are so desperate to escape the quietness of life, we cling to anything to give us excitement and purpose.  I remember so often clinging to higher education to distract me from having to wait on God.  Now, there's nothing wrong with getting a higher education, but when we use that as source of dependency and to give our lives meaning, it then becomes and idol.  The main way to avoid distractions is to stay focused on God. We do this through prayer and feasting on God's Word. Its His Word that helps us to identify the snares of the enemy. Its the Word that gives us faith to protect us from his fiery darts.

In conclusion, embrace the stillness that God has given you.  It is in the stillness where we are able to see God move on our behalf.  Let go of anxiousness and worry as well as distractions. Let God complete the work that he has started for you. Allow Him to usher you into a new time in your life.