Just Be Still

So I have this friend. No, dad, I am not going to tell you her name. I am sure she doesn’t want this posted with her name all over.

So I have a friend who was raised in a strict home. Not a mean home, a strict home. There were rules that she had to follow, and if she didn’t, she would be punished. The older she got, the punishments changed. They didn’t get worse, they changed.

All growing up she had a strong faith. She went to church. She knew the songs. Her heart belonged to Jesus. She thought it would always belong to Jesus.

Then life happened.

She grew up and got married. Babies were born. She moved to other states to follow her husband’s career. And somewhere along the way, her heart no longer belonged to Jesus. It belonged to everything and everyone else. There wasn’t time for her heart to belong to Jesus. There were bills to pay, meals to be made, run one kid to practice and the other to dance lessons and a husband who needed some attention too.
But if you asked her at any time, she would tell you she still had a strong faith and that she missed going to church. When you asked her if her kids wanted to go to church, she just kind of shrugged.

Then one day she looked around and her kids were older and off doing their own things. So she decided she would go to church one Sunday.

How long had she been gone? Church was totally different now. People showed up in jeans and there was a band with drums. Since when do drums belong in a church?
But the service had started and she didn’t want to just leave, so she stayed and observed.

People were enjoying themselves. Imagine that! Kids and adults alike were into the service. She looked up at the screen to see the words to the songs they were singing. One was a traditional hymn, but with a different beat and another was a song with words that moved her to tears.

As she stood there and observed she realized she was mad. She was mad at God. But you can’t be mad at God, can you? And what was she mad about?

She went home and tried not to think about church and what she felt, but try as she might, she couldn’t get the feeling to go away.

She finally realized that she was mad at God for letting her get to a place where she no longer felt drawn to him. That church wasn’t that important anymore. That life worked just fine, thank you.

But she also realized a feeling that she missed. She tells me that she can’t put it into words how she felt, but it was a familiar feeling.

When the road gets crazy
And tries to break me
And I've had all I can stand
I can close my eyes no matter where I am
And just be still

There's a place I need to go
Where stained glass windows glow
Every part of me is known
Thank God I can go there
Thank God I can go there

Still

I know, like her, that life gets crazy and we all are struggling to fit everything in. But just think how maybe, just maybe, the struggle would be less if we would just be still.