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3 Reasons to Be Still


     Yesterday, my professor had us take three minutes at the end of my psychology class. She told us to listen to her mindfulness app for three minutes, and the sounds of waterfalls and birds fell on our open ears, relaxing our softly closed eyes.

     Just hours later, at the end of a yoga class focused on breathing and listening to our bodies, we spent a minute in complete silence, eyes closed.

     "I get it, God," I whispered in my mind.

     The week before, He had prompted me to spend 15 minutes in silence, three times a week. I'd only done it once that week. And here He was, sprinkling time with Him throughout my day, even when I thought I was "too busy" to get around to that on a Wednesday.

     This is not the first time God had taught me to "be still, and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10). But I'm learning this spiritual truth on a practical, physical level.

     Because my spiritual life and spiritual growth should be more real than all that I can see in my daily life. But it's rarely the focus of my life.

3 Reasons to Be Still

1. To talk to God. Prayer is something I've never been consistent in. God doesn't ask a lot from our prayers - right now I'm just focusing on humility when I speak with Him. I know He wants to be involved in our daily lives, and prioritizing Him is often preceding by learning to slow to crazy.

2. To listen to God. While we do hear from His Word and His people, I love hearing from His Spirit too. How can we listen if we aren't silent? How can we have a good back-and-forth conversation to maintain a relationship without being still and "making eye contact" (so to speak)?

3. To defeat stress. In our moving, shaking culture, it's easy to rush through every day. But if we slow down, we'll be less stressed; if we're less stressed, we'll be healthier.

     Right now, my 15 minutes of stillness is allowing me to find the time with God I was so thirsty for, and it's managing my stress levels like nothing else can.

     In my first 15 minutes, God has already revealed an idol in my life that I need to deal with. He's been trying to tell me for a while, but only when I was quiet was I truly ready to listen to Him.

     What would "being still" look like for you? Would you be willing to actually make a change?

~Madeline

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