Be Still

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; 

do not fret when men succeed in their ways, 

when they carry our their wicked schemes,

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; 

do not fret-it leads only to evil.

For evil men will be cut off,

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

A little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look for them, they will not be found.

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace."

Psalm 37: 7-11

Since we evacuated, several verses have been on repeat in my heart. When I came across this verse the other day, it stuck with me immediately. It wasn't until then that I recognized a theme to all of the verses that God had placed my on heart. They all had to do with "being still" or "being at rest" and waiting on the Lord. "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you" (Psalm 116:7) has been a go- to verse in this season. 

I don't like "being still". It is not something that comes naturally to me. Some people enjoy being idle and sitting quietly with their own thoughts... I am not one of those people. I like to be busy. When I'm in a season that is not busy, I like to pretend I'm busy and find things to do so that I don't have to be alone with my thoughts and my fears. The above verses have been difficult to me for this reason. I would rather busy myself so that I don't have to face what is really going on in my heart. The problem with that (there are many) is that this doesn't solve anything. It actually only causes me to be more anxious and fearful because I'm not actually dealing with what is going on- I'm working around the issues, but not facing the issues. I'm learning that I would rather flippantly said, "I trust you, God" than actually process and pray through what I'm trusting Him with- or God forbid, deal with the reality that I'm actually struggling to trust Him in a certain area and admit that to Him. 

So, in this season, I'm trying to be intentional about being at rest with the Lord. I know how easy it is for me to busy myself so that I don't have to face my fears and feeling head-on, so I'm working to fight that tendency and actually allow the Lord to speak to my fears and my doubts. 

Look at the above verse again. Isn't that a beautiful promise?! This verse has become my prayer for Mundri over the past few weeks. I pray that I will not "fret when men succeed in their ways" and the same for the people of Mundri. I also pray that my beautiful Moru friends will one day "inherit the land and enjoy great peace". Peace from war. Peace from all fear. Peace the God provides and cares for them. I'm praying for the day when the wicked will truly "be no more" and when evil is overthrown completely. 

This is why I can be a rest. I can sit quietly before the Lord because I trust that these promises will come true one day. I trust that although we don't see complete evidence of it now, God is victorious over evil and His ways will prevail eternally.