A Place of Stillness

“Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

I am a morning person. I prefer the quiet dark hours before either the sun or the birds awaken. A stillness that begs me to sit with a cup of hot black coffee and my open Bible rests unobtrusively across the day’s first hours.

Over the years I have developed an early morning routine that has drawn me closer and closer to Psalm 46:10—“Be still and know that I am God.” In the beginning, my mornings were filled with getting three children ready for school and myself ready for work. During those years, my closed and locked bathroom door became my best friend.

Eventually the children grew, dressed themselves and did not require as much of my time, and my still moments grew from five minutes to fifteen. I longed for more.

Finally the last child left the nest. My bathroom door no longer needed to be locked. The house grew quiet, and my place of stillness transferred from the bathroom to the dining room table.  Now I have the joy of uninterrupted quiet mornings.

I miss the days of children calling out, “Mom, where’s my tennis shoes?” “Mom, I need lunch money.” “Mom, don’t forget to sign my field trip papers.”  

I am reminded that life is not static. Things change—much too quickly. Time passes like Superman—faster than a speeding bullet. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father also changes as we take the time to be still and know Him, abandon our will to His and cultivate an intimate relationship that no earthly force can destroy.

I am glad that we do not have to search for God. He is always available. Whether we have five minutes behind locked bathroom doors or entire mornings with our hot coffee and Bibles, all we have to do is be still—abandon ourselves to Him—and be blessed.

We live in a noisy world, but in God there is a place of stillness.  

© Joyce Powell