Everyone is looking for answers. How do I find peace? Where do I find happiness? What does a fulfilling life really look like? Why is there pain and suffering in the world? When will it ever end? How can I make it through this day/week?

As many questions as we have, we tend to try many paths to finding answers: we roll things over and over in our minds, we search our hearts, we listen to those around us, we revert back to what our parents did, we read articles and books. Sometimes, we actually go to God, which is always our best first choice!

But consider this before frantically searching out solutions and answers:

“The answers you seek never come to mind when the mind is busy. They come only when the mind is still.” (Author unknown)

Being still is such an unpopular and uncharacteristic state of being in a society that seems to worship activity and self-effort. Ask that of someone who is near the end of life and I’m pretty sure they would concur; busyness is not the goal that rewards.

But how do you cultivate the discipline of being still? Maybe there are daily activities and habits you really could stop or slow down in order to create islands of peace and quiet throughout the day. I used to be tied to checking emails and messages all the time, as if the world would stop spinning if I didn’t respond to something within a minute!

Even if it seems impossible to stop any of your spinning plates for fear they will all come crashing down, who doesn’t have a few seconds before moving on? That’s literally all it takes to pause, take a deep breath, say a word of thanks, or remind ourselves who we are in God’s sight and who He is. And if we don’t take small moments to recharge throughout the day, how effective will we be anyway?!

We have limited choices: seek Him in stillness or go our own busy way. (And we only have to ask how going our own way is really working for us to realize how much we need to learn the art of being still before God!)

In The Secret (Chris Tomlin)
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You,’cause I want to know You more.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10