Embracing Stillness: Finding Peace in Surrender
“Be still and know that I am God!”
Psalm 46:11
In life, we may find ourselves relentlessly pursuing goals, relationships, or situations that we believe will fulfill us or bring us happiness. We knock on doors, push boundaries, and demand to be let in, only to find ourselves feeling tired, unwanted, and questioning if we are truly loved.
During a meditation with God, I vividly remember standing at His door, knocking with all my might to the point of exhaustion, desperately seeking entrance. I felt unwanted and questioned if He really loved me. But as I paused and took a step back, I had a moment of clarity. I realized that perhaps this path wasn’t meant for me. Taking a few more steps back, I said to myself, “I don’t have to chase anymore.” In that moment of reflection, I found a profound sense of freedom. I realized that I didn’t have to keep going after something that wasn’t meant for me. I could walk away, and nothing would be taken from me because I had God, who had always been there, sustaining me with life, love, giving me hope, joy, and comfort. I had my family, my friends, my loved ones who supported me through thick and thin. Then I told myself, “I will be okay,” and I walked away.
It was a realization that I was enough, just as I was. I didn’t have to constantly strive for validation or acceptance from external sources. I didn’t have to bend until I broke, trying to fit into someone else’s idea of who I should be. I could simply be still, turn inward, and focus on nurturing my relationship with myself and with God.
In the stillness, I found a profound sense of peace. Being still doesn’t mean doing nothing; it’s a purposeful act of waiting in surrender, intentionally pausing to let God work. It’s about trusting in God’s timing and grace, knowing that He knows what is best for us. It’s about letting go of the need to control every aspect of our lives and instead, allowing ourselves to be guided by Our Father.
But embracing stillness isn’t easy. It requires us to confront our fears, our insecurities, and our desire for immediate gratification. It means facing the discomfort of uncertainty, the pain of letting go, and the humility of surrendering to a power greater than ourselves.
Yet, in that surrender, there is freedom. There is freedom in releasing the need to constantly strive for perfection or validation from others. There is freedom in embracing our true selves, flaws and all, and finding acceptance in the loving embrace of God.
So, let us embrace stillness. Let us pause, breathe, and trust in the journey that God has laid out for us. Let us surrender our fears, our doubts, and our need for control and allow ourselves to be guided by His love. In the stillness, we will find peace, we will find clarity, and we will find who we are in God.
