Hi Arnold Community Church! In an effort to be connected to one another in this time of isolation I wanted to pass along some thoughts of encouragement and perspective. I hope they are of help to you!
Psalm 46:10a
“Be still and know that I AM God”
Being still is not easy for a variety of reasons. We don’t want to be confronted by our lurking anxious thoughts. We fear what we might hear. We may even fear hearing from God… so we stay busy, even in our forced stillness while isolating ourselves in our homes during this crisis.
I would even suggest that it is probably a better posture to be listening to God in this time of upheaval instead of speaking. To listen well we need to quiet our souls in places of silence and solitude. I want to encourage you to really lean into silence and solitude. This was one of Jesus’ core spiritual practices. Luke observed this about Jesus’ life, when he said “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16).” He sought out solitude and silence to hear from His Father.
In this time of isolation and solitude take some time to practice silence and stillness. A simple prayer practice to help you move into silence and stillness is to pray through Psalm 46:10. Find a comfortable place, close your eyes and be attentive to God’s presence in the stillness and begin praying Psalm 46:10 like this:
Be still and know that I Am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Do this several times with a pause between each time you do. Do it slowly and let your soul be absorbed into the love and presence of God. Once your soul has quieted and your mind slowed down simply enjoy the presence of God. Resist the urge to say anything and let Him speak to You. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much your soul is calmed by God’s presence and how encouraged you will be by what He will say to you!
Journeying with you,
Pastor Cam
