4-minute read
A number of years ago, while gallivanting across Iceland with a friend, we hiked up a craggy hill that felt like a mountain. It was the windiest spot I’ve ever been to in my life. The temperature was probably in the 50s, but every massive gust of wind made the air feel sub-zero. Every step I imagined I was Ernest Shackleton, pushing through the harsh elements, making his way across Antarctica (with his wonderfully named pal, Chippy McNish).
After an hour of hiking that felt like a week, we came around from the leeward side to the back of the hill-mountain. There, sheltered from the wind, we crouched down behind a rocky outcropping, sat on our haunches, and ate (with trembling hands) the snacks we’d brought with us. The silence was remarkable after so much wind screaming like angry banshees in our ears.
There, in that place, I experienced a place of stillness. True and utter stillness.
We got to spend a good fifteen minutes huddled up there before going back out into the elements to make our way to the meetup point with the rest of our group (note: they were not there as we got the location wrong and ended up lost on an Icelandic ridge for two more hours). Those fifteen minutes were necessary for us to keep going, though. They were glorious.
I need stillness today.
*****
Here’s a great, great verse from Scripture—
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it.”
Isaiah 30:15
What a cool verse, right?
That last phrase has some barb to it, but it’s really God going, “Hey! I’m offering you something wonderful… and you’ve rejected the amazing thing that’s all that can truly help you! Come ON!”
“In repentance and rest is your salvation.”
“In repentance.” That sounds like big-time religious language, but repentance is just coming to a realization that whatever you’ve been doing isn’t the best course of action… and God’s ways are better… and you want to come correct and agree with Him.
“And rest.” Wow. Rarely in Religious World do you hear the words “repentance” and “rest” in the same sentence, do you?
But what if God’s right? (Ha. Of course He is.) What if by repenting—disagreeing with our old ways of doing things and agreeing with God’s—leads not to shame and self-flagellation, but… rest?
Real rest.
A big deep breath of rest.
And what’s more?
“In repentance and rest is your salvation.”
That’s the result of all of that: salvation.
My buddy (same cat who saw Iceland and felt the Icelandic gusts with me) says, “We’re saved… and being saved.”
God saves us…
And continues to save us, all of our lives.
What’s the key to that salvation here? Repentance… and rest.
Repentance.
And rest.
Amen.
*****
Then, the Scripture talks about strength.
Anybody want strength in this season?
Anybody feeling a bit weak… a bit wobbly-kneed… a bit like a leaf in the wind?
This verse offers God’s path to strength… and it’s not what most of us think of when we think of how to become strong.
It says, “In quietness and trust is your strength.”
Quietness. Trust.
Maybe you could even put is like this: quiet trust.
How do you get strong?
You don’t bow yourself up, talk yourself into something, screw your courage to the sticking place, and muster it up.
You get quiet.
And you find in that quiet place… trust.
That’s how you get strength.
*****
In all of this, I hear the unwritten word: stillness.
Stillness.
Sitting… still.
Not moving.
Being calm.
Not doing.
Just… stilling. (Sure, that’s a word.)
Coming to a place—even for just a short period of time—where you don’t focus on all that’s going on… and you don’t do anything… you just… sit… still.
Like a weary hill climber, nestled away from the elements, enjoying the peace and the calm in the midst of a storm.
In stillness is your strength.
*****
I’ve been doing something odd lately.
I’ve been sitting there.
Not reading.
Not praying.
Not hardly thinking, even.
Just… sitting… still.
I get time by myself in the morning…
I sit in a big comfy chair…
I stare out the window…
And I… just… am.
Quietly sitting and staring out.
Do I read the Bible?
Yep… after.
Do I pray about things I want and need?
Yep… after.
Do I thank God for the good things He’s given me?
Yep… after.
Do I tell Him about my worries and concerns and fears and anxieties?
Yep… after.
After I sit still.
“Be still and know that I am God,” it says Psalm 46.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand…
…goes the old hymn.
I need that stillness… every single day.
*****
How’s your stillness?
Is it hard?
It can be.
We’re so tempted to spend our mornings—or our evenings—consumed by plans for the day, worries, or the news.
All that’s gonna come…
Why not head it all off with stillness first?
Why not spend some time just… being.
Being in the presence of the Lord.
Five minutes? Ten minutes? Fifteen?
(Set a timer if you need to! It helps me…)
And let that calm come over your soul…
As you come in from the lee…
And rest in that quiet… that stillness…
That rest that leads to salvation…
And strength.
Because at this time… that’s what we need.
*
Oh, and here’s a great song.