17/07/26 - Stillness: The Reason You Won't Sit Still

I want to say something today that will land uncomfortably.

That is what Fridays are for.

This week's theme: Stillness.

Today, the hard truth about why you keep not doing the thing you already know would help.

THE REAL REASON

You have known for years that stillness would help you.

You have read the verses. You have heard the sermons. You have probably even tried a few practices. Journaling. Contemplative prayer. A quiet time before the day starts. You know it works. You know the people who do it are calmer, kinder, more present.

And still, you do not do it. Or you do it for three days and stop. Or you do a version of it that has your phone in your hand the whole time.

The reason is not laziness. It is not lack of time. It is not that you're too busy, though that's the story most of us tell.

The real reason is that stillness is uncomfortable, and you have quietly organised your life to avoid discomfort.

Read what David wrote when he was hiding in a cave.

That is one of the most exposing prayers in the Bible.

David is asking God to look inside him. Not to comfort him. Not to encourage him. To search him. To see what's actually going on underneath. To bring the anxious thoughts and offensive ways to the surface where they can be dealt with.

Most of us do not want that prayer answered.

Because if we sat still long enough for God to actually search us, he might show us things. About who we've become. About what we've been feeding on. About the resentment we've been carrying. About the way we've been treating someone. About the direction of our life. About the state of our marriage. About the quiet compromise we made three years ago and never came back to.

Stillness surfaces those things. And once they're surfaced, we have to do something about them.

That is the actual reason you won't sit still.

Not because you're too busy. Because being busy is the alibi. Busy means you never have to look. Busy means the conversation with God stays surface. Busy means the anxious thoughts can keep running underneath without ever being named. Busy is the modern Christian's most sophisticated way of hiding.

I know because I have used it for years.

I have quoted Psalm 46:10 on my socials while running from what it actually asks of me. I have written a whole newsletter called The Quiet Word while being noisier than most people I know. I have led others into stillness practices while personally avoiding my own.

I am telling you this not as someone who has cracked it. I am telling you this as someone who is still very much learning.

The hard truth is that the stillness you are avoiding is the exact stillness God is trying to give you. Not as a punishment. As a gift. As the place he can finally get a word in. As the place where the anxious thoughts finally get held, not by you, by him.

You are not avoiding an inconvenient discipline. You are avoiding the room where the real conversation happens.

He is waiting in that room.

He has been waiting a long time.

YOUR ONE THING FOR TODAY

Ask yourself one question honestly, and answer it out loud if you can.

What am I afraid God will show me if I actually sit still?

You do not have to fix the answer today. You just have to be honest about it. Naming what you are avoiding is the first step out of avoiding it.

OVER TO YOU

What are you afraid God might surface if you actually sat still? Hit reply. One line. I read every one, and I hold them all with care.

God bless you, my friend.

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