In the Stillness
by Jim Person
During a recent trip to Norway, we arrived in the middle of a snowstorm with over fifty centimetres of snow that had already fallen, and another fifty to come. During the storm, we looked out of the window from the security of the warm apartment where we were staying, listened to the wind blowing, and watched it swirling the snow in spirals of cascading drifts. Inside we were secure, outside was turmoil.
I went to sleep listening to the storm as it raged outside our little apartment. Warm, secure, and comforted in that place, I went to sleep. I woke in the morning to utter stillness. Looking out of the window, I discovered a winter wonderland. Everything was covered with a blanket of snow. Going outside, I was flooded with memories of my youth in Alaska. I remembered the stillness of a snow-covered glade that I’d entered long ago, where sound was absolutely absent in the stillness of the snow-covered trees. I remembered marvelling at the quiet stillness that surrounded me back then. I remember that, as I stood in that small glade in awe, a bit of snow fell off the tree. The sound it made in the stillness was like a clash of cymbals to my ears.
As I stood there in Norway, flooded by these memories of my youth, God impressed in my spirit that I needed to enter the stillness to hear His voice. As tears ran down my cheeks, I realised that I’d been so busy with the storms in my life, and the storms in my children’s lives, that I’d missed out being still before the Lord. In Psalm 37, the psalmist shows us how to live in the stillness, trusting the Lord, not worrying about things, as we wait on him, committing everything and everyone into His firm strong hands. As we do this, He’ll act on our behalf, and give us the desires of our hearts.
Prayer: Lord, I need be still before You, and wait on You, as I go along my life’s journey. I’m so thankful that, in the stillness, You speak. Let that stillness settle into my soul, so I can trust You, as I stand in that place, waiting patiently for Your comforting words. Lord, I need help to not worry about the things I can’t change in my life, or in the lives of those I care for. I want to enter into what You have for me, but my life sometimes overwhelms me. I commit my life into Your hands, faithfully waiting on You to act on my behalf, and granting me the desires of my heart. Amen.
Jim Person Jim grew up in Alaska and from a small child commercial fished every summer with his family. God called him, his wife Tanya, and their four children to move to Hungary as missionaries in 2003. God then led him to join Ellel Ministries in 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where he is now serving with the Ellel USA team. Jim and Tanya have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom. They also love mentoring the existing and developing Ellel teams wherever God leads them. Jim also has a real gift for working with the land to create a beautiful and welcoming environment.
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