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When the oceans rise and thunders roar
Still BY HILLSONG
I will soar with You above the storm
Father, You are king over the flood
I will be still, know You are God
The songs resonates in me. It hits in an emotional level, it moved me and it evoked a feeling familiarity. Perhaps I actually needed to hear that song – what message it brings and how cuts deep into my soul.
“I will be still.”
“I will be still.”
“I will be still.”
“I will be still.”
“I will be still.”
I was trying to convince myself, I sang the song over and over again in my head. I need to be still. They say it’s just all in the mind but all the more I think about it the more I feel overwhelmed and trapped and caught in the same performance trap.
How amazing how God spoke to me that day. Even through the songs that I listened, he whispers gently that I don’t need to try to do everything to prove something, He just want to have an intimate relationship with Him.
The story of Mary and Martha resounds to me once again. In Luke 10:38, the Bible tells us of the Living Room “intimacy” Mary enjoyed with Jesus versus the busyness of Martha in the Kitchen. Busyness, by itself, breeds distraction. The story shows us a woman with the gift of hospitality. Marth opened her home to Jesus, but doesn’t automatically mean she opened her heart. In her eagerness to serve Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to know Jesus.
Luke tells us that “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” In her mind, nothing’s less than the very best would do. She had to go ALL OUT for Jesus. Seems to me, I have been role-playing Martha all along. I get caught in the same performance trap, feeling as though I must prove my love for God by doing great things for Him. So I rush past the intimacy of the Living Room to get busy for Him in the Kitchen — implementing great ministries at work or even at church, all in effort to spread the Good News. I do all the works in His name. I call Him “LORD, LORD.” But in the end, will He know me? Will I know Him?
Christian life is such a paradox. While the world applauds achievements, success, promotions and the likes, GOD desires companionship. I’ve heard and read this numerous times, “Do more! Be all that you can be!” But our Father whispers, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10).
As I get into a deeper study of Martha and Mary’s relatable story, I came across a reading material by the famous E.M. Bounds and I love what he said, “To be much alone with God is the secret of knowing Him and of influence with Him.” Certainly, the LORD isn’t looking as much for workers as He is looking for sons and daughters — people to pour His life into.
Indeed, God’s acquaintances is not made hurriedly. He does not bestow His gifts on the casual or hasty comer or goer. He was never in a hurry. Jesus invites us to share intimacy with Him. He invites us to know Him, to see Him so clearly that when we look upon Him, we see the face of GOD as well. Just as He welcomed Mary to sit as His feet in the living room, just as He invited Martha to leave the kitchen for a while and share in the better part, Jesus bids us to come.
Been called to come to sit as His feet ~~~~~Forever Grateful,
Charmaine
Forever grateful 