Mornings With Jesus

Put your to-do list down and instead spend five minutes in stillness before Jesus praising Him and asking Him to show up in your day.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Psalm 37:7 (NIV)

For years Saturdays were cleaning day. While my husband took our kids on an outing I’d clean the house from top to bottom. It was easier for me to clean—to work and see progress—than to sit at the park watching them play. I told myself that doing all the cleaning on one day gave me more time with them during the week, which was true, but the deeper truth is my inability to be still. 

My “roll up your sleeves and have at it” attitude seemed noble as I home-schooled and started freelance writing. I didn’t understand, though, why I felt so empty and unfulfilled by the end of the day. Even checking off a long to-do list didn’t satisfy.

That’s when I came upon the message from this verse: Be still. Something stirred inside as I read those words. I felt my Lord Jesus was talking to me, but I didn’t want to accept the message.

Soon I saw the verse everywhere. On a mug and journal I won as a door prize, and on the embroidered wall hanging made for me. Still? Is that what Jesus desired more than a clean house, well-educated kids, or my written Christian messages? 

Still, I discovered, isn’t simply lack of motion. The rest of the verse describes being before God and waiting for Him. It’s more than just rest, although I need that too; it’s being filled by the Lord’s presence and hope. It’s realizing that He can accomplish more with one whispered breath than I could with twenty years of labor. It’s understanding you’re not waiting for Him to do something. You’re waiting for Him, because He is what you need.

FAITH STEP: Put your to-do list down and instead spend five minutes in stillness before Jesus praising Him and asking Him to show up in your day.

Written by Tricia Goyer