The Key to Awareness

One major goal I have in my life is to live in the awareness of God’s presence. It is one thing that I regularly ask Him for and about. Lately, He has been telling me that the key to awareness is stillness. I have heard the scripture, “Be still and know that I am God” so many times but never really grasped the practical application of it. I would often interpret this to mean I should cease from talking and try to make my mind blank and just know that He was God.  But I have learned to think of it much more as Psalm 131 describes:

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in matters too great or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me [ceased from fretting]. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.”

I have meditated a lot on this short chapter. And God has shown me that one of my biggest interruptions from commune with Him has been an overactive mind. My mind can race a thousand different ways in a short amount of time if allowed and will leave me little time to be still and be aware that God is here right now, right in this moment. And never more so than when I’m trying to figure out a problem. I can reason things out in my mind until I make myself nearly ill. And that is how I apply the first verse of this chapter;

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in matters too great or in things too wonderful for me.”

I cease from reasoning. I cease from trying to figure everything out on my own and know that God alone is God and He is the One who has it figured out. It’s too lofty and too wonderful for me and I must not be so haughty and of full of pride as to think I can figure it out on my own. In this area too I must be still.

Another obstacle has been my emotions; bad ones such as feelings of anxiety or fear. And even good emotions unbalanced can cause your mind to be so busy that you don’t hear God such as excitement, anticipation, etc.

“Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me [ceased from fretting].”

So I am learning, that when my emotions are raging to take a moment to calm and quiet my soul. How? The best way I have found is through prayer, thanksgiving and trust.

“O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.”

I place my hope in God because I trust Him. I know His character, I know His love and I assuredly know His goodness. And so I pray.

Phillipans 4:6-7 says this;

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (bold mine)

I must pray, I must thank God and then I must trust. I must trust in His goodness, His wisdom, His sovereignty and His love. It’s simple, not always easy, but always doable when I ask God for help and do it through Christ Jesus. So even when I am hurt I remind myself that God loves me, and I trust Him that He is working everything into something good in my life because He has told me He is.

My challenge today is from 1 Peter 3:3-4

“Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God.”

I am challenged to be still in every situation and know that He is God.