The Power of Stillness: Why Waiting for God Leads to Greater Peace
Why Being Still is Helpful in Waiting for God + Life Updates
"On 3rd February 2024, I began seeking God for guidance about my future. What would I do after my volunteer year? Would I pursue the visions and dreams He placed on my heart in 2021? Entering the Live Salted Conference, I expected God to reveal specific steps and actions. I wanted to be prepared, avoiding the sense of directionlessness I currently feel. However, His response was simply, 'Stay in step with me.'
Tahni (one of my besties I met through Live Salted) and I at Live Salted Conference, Feb 2024
Over the past few months, conversations often began with the question, 'What’s next after the school year?' Despite their innocent intent, few realized the weight behind those questions.
My answer remained, 'When God reveals it, I’ll let you know.'
Little did they know, I envied their certainty about future steps—whether returning to careers or marrying. Though I didn’t desire their paths, I yearned for their sense of direction.
Lamentations 3:25-26 (NLT) reminds us
The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
As months passed, my questioning persisted, and God consistently replied, ‘There’s nothing to figure out, just wait.’
‘Be still.’
What does it mean to be still and not do anything? How does that work? How does doing nothing achieve something? It doesn’t make sense to me. Surely, to reap what I sow, I have to sow initially? Yet, God is showing me that the ‘sowing’ isn’t my responsibility; it’s His."
Why The Sabbath Teaches us to wait
The Sabbath is a day we set aside from our busy lives to worship God in various ways (Exodus 20: 8-10). In doing so, we remind our flesh that God is the provider. If we worked nonstop, we might fool ourselves into thinking all our success is solely due to our efforts, when in reality, it’s because of Him. Sabbathing (stopping) activates our trust in Abba that He will provide. Waiting is another form of Sababth, seasonally not weekly. The ‘waiting period’ gives Him the space and time to prepare and ready our minds and hearts to ensure that when He gifts us our next steps we will receive them as a blessing, not a curse. God invites us to surrender our control, plans, and desires to His timeline so that He can refine them.
Refinement is needed. Many times I prayed specific prayers to God pleading Him to grant me it. I even fasted and sent the requests to my friends for them to pray. But in the process of Him not granting it, I recognised that’s not what I wanted. It made sense then because it was the only step I could see. Can you relate?
I don’t know how long you’re waiting for. Perhaps it’s recent or a long time and you want to give up hope. You can’t believe it’s for your good when the process has led to countless tears, grief, and an aching heart that yearns for an answer. You’re not alone, I’m with you. Not knowing what I’m going to do in the next month is SCARY. I desperately want God to give me an answer requiring action, yet He says ‘be still.’
My flesh wants to move, the Spirit wants me to be still. The flesh and spirit don’t align and they won’t as they were never meant to (Galatians 5:12). Therefore, when your flesh wants to give up, you lean on The Helper (the Holy Spirit) and ask Him to help your unbelief.
Hiking Grand Canyon, June 2024
The waiting breeds deeper intimacy. It shows me that God won’t stop pursuing me until I understand the message He’s conveying. Every time I doubt whether I’m hearing Him correctly, God sends reminders through people who don’t know each other, telling me to wait, be still, and that there’s nothing to figure out. He’s just that kind. Through this, He’s trying to relieve the pressure of fixating on the future and instead, to be present, recognizing that He has my life in His hands and wants to direct it."
What I’ve learned in the last few days is to be honest with Him. When the frustration of not knowing arises, I say to God, ‘Your Spirit is reminding me that You’re working out the next step for my good, but it’s hard to believe it when I can’t see it. Help me to believe. Help me to trust You.’
Although I don’t instantly believe, the peace that surpasses understanding lays its eggs in my heart. Slowly but surely, I’m beginning to believe more that I don’t need to figure my future out; I need to trust and allow Him to do it.
Friends, the waiting period sucks. It’s hard, it’s scary, and it’s pressurizing. It doesn’t make sense to the world. Every time my people ask me, ‘What’s next after your volunteer year?’ I reply, ‘God’s telling me to wait.’ I receive looks of confusion.
Waiting doesn’t make sense in a world constantly on the go, but it’s needed. It grows our dependency on Him. It builds our patience and intimacy. It allows us to be honest with God about our frustrations, needs, and desires. Through it all, we see Him be the comforting Dad that He is. He wipes away our tears. He sends friends to encourage us to wait. He places encouraging content on our virtual timelines through the algorithm. He NEVER leaves us, so DON’T leave Him. Cling tighter to Jesus because He’s clinging onto you.
As you wait, it’s okay to be upset with God about how long it’s taking: let Him know that. Stay in constant dialogue with God. But through it, allow Him to refine the desires of your heart to align with His.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster,
to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)
LIFE UPDATES
Travelling- FRIENDS! I’m currently in my fave part of the world on a solo trip to have some alone time with God in the sun and palm trees (can you guess where?!) I’m happy to have intentional time with Jesus and do some laptop work.
Therapy- I restarted therapy yesterday and I’m truly happy to intentionally grow and commit aside to do it.
Waiting- This devotional has been more for me to process and for my intimacy with the Father to grow. This waiting season has been difficult, hard for me to trust God and to take my hand off the driver’s seat. But this written processing has helped me become more honest with God about my frustrations, breeding deeper intimacy.
Mentor and mentee meetup!- I met one of my teenagers last week and it was nice to not have my ‘Dean’ brain on and to see her in her home environment. I also had to stay the night because the car I borrowed died outside her house at night thankfully, so we ended up having an impromptu sleepover!
Kate (my mentee) and I having fun together, June 2024
RECCOMENDATIONS!
Slower I Go- This song has been on repeat to remind myself that God’s pace isn’t the same as mine.
The chorus says
‘It seems as though
The slower I Go
The faster I arrive.’
I pray that God uses this song to encourage you that even though His pace is different, His heart is always for you. You’re never alone.