Sit Still

“Sit still I will fight for you.  Quiet confidence in me is your strength.”

This is what God has been telling me for the last year.  Over and over and over again He has reminded me to sit still.  He has reminded me that He is fighting for me.  As I lay in bed praying over this and thinking on it I had a picture come to mind.  Bear with me for a moment as I share because I have been reading fairy tales with my daughter so this is gonna get totally girly. 

 

I am a princess.  I am at home in my cozy little castle and my prince tells me to sit still he will fight for me.  He will fight for my freedom, my future, and my present.  He leaves me and goes off to war, fighting courageously with his sword and shield.  I see pieces of his promises falling into place. Messages are sent reminding me he is fighting for me and that he loves me.  But for some reason it didn’t seem enough.  I got impatient.  I grabbed up my own sword and off I went to hack some things up, get bloody and do some damage for my freedom, my future, and my present. 

I returned tired and beat up, complaining about all I had to go through and how long I have had to wait.  But then my prince returned.  I ran to him, fell into his arms crying, “Why has it taken so long?”  He held me for what seemed a moment.  He didn’t let go of me but gently lifted my face.  His eyes met mine and then he noticed the blood and scrapes on my cheeks.  A look of concern replaced the joy in his eyes.  He stepped back a little more, his hand never leaving mine, and his eyes examined my disheveled appearance.  He saw my dress torn, covered in dirt and blood.  I was missing a shoe and my hair was a matted mess. 

“What has happened to you my love?” he whispered. 

I didn’t want to answer him.  I was overwhelmed with guilt now that he was here.  I didn’t want to explain to my beloved that I didn’t sit still when he told me to, that I didn’t trust in the promises he gave me.  I was ashamed.  I just wanted to know what took him so long.  As I wept I asked him again, “Why has it taken you so long?”

He pulled me back to him and kissed the top of my matted hair.  He looked into my eyes and with his voice full of love he said, “I am so sorry my love that it has taken me so long.  On my way back I encountered some difficulties.  Someone was out fighting apart from my troops.  They caused all kinds of unnecessary damage that I had to clean up on my way back to you.”  In that moment, I fell to the ground overwhelmed with grief because I knew I was that person. 

  

I needed this vivid picture.  This was a reminder of what God was asking me to do and a picture of what disobeying that would look like.  I was getting restless.  I had ideas and plans popping into my head of all I could do.  Every one of them was a direct act of disobedience to what I had been told to do which was to sit still. 

“Our job is simply to be obedient to God in the midst of what we’re facing.  God’s job is results.”  Lysa Terkeurst. Unglued

 

Along with this picture God brought back to me scripture after scripture that He has given me along my journey to encourage me, to remind me, and to give me strength.  In my restlessness I sought Him because even though I felt He wasn’t enough in that moment I knew He was more than enough.  I knew I could trust Him because He has never failed me.  His ways may not be mine and His time may not be mine but in the end he presents me whole and clean.  When I do things on my own in my way I end up like the princess all scraped up and bleeding, my dress all torn and dirty, my hair all matted and shoes missing.  Then my God has to come along behind me and clean up my mess, leaving me to wait longer for what I was trying to hurry along with my disobedience. 

 

“…Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15

“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”  Zechariah 4:6-7

‘Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”  Psalm 127:1

God’s direction for me is to sit still.  I don’t know what He is telling you.  Maybe He is telling you to get up and move or to draw closer to Him.  In whatever He is asking for your obedience are you giving it?  Or have you felt He is not enough and taken matters into your own hands? 

When your children look at you do they see the strength that comes from a quiet confidence in the Lord or do they see you all beat up and bloody from wielding your own sword in your own strength? 

 

Father, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all you have done for me.  You have taken me under your wing.  You have protected me from the damage I would cause going out in my own strength.  You have been my strength.  You are creating in me a pure heart, a heart that can teach my children to love you and others in actions and in truth (1John 3:18).