Abiding in Christ - In Stillness of Soul - Day 18

In repentance and rest in your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength. ~Isaiah 30:15

JUST BE.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. ~Psalm 37:7


Truly my soul silently waits for God. ~Psalm 62:1

There is a false sort of thinking that many fall prey to:
         
        Man must do his utmost;
              Only then can he expect God to do His part.

But the Scriptures say,

• Be still.
• Do nothing.
• Rest.
• Wait.

The only true co-operation between a believer and the Lord Jesus Christ is based on SUBORDINATION.

We must cultivate stillness of soul.  We must learn to have a teachable spirit.

Like three quiet women of the Word, named Mary:

In her whose only answer to the most wonderful revelation ever made to human being was, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word"; and of whom, as mysteries multiplied around her, it is written: "Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart."

And in her who "sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word," and who showed, in the anointing Him for His burial, how she had entered more deeply into the mystery of His death than even the beloved disciple.

And in her, too, who sought her Lord in the house of the Pharisee, with tears that spake more than words. Abiding in Christ, by Andrew Murray. Chapter 18.

It is a soul that is silent before God that is best prepared for knowing Jesus.

How do you learn to be silent before God?

• acknowledge your ignorance - you have no idea what God is doing.
• agree that you are impotent - you are powerless to effect change.
• open your ears, and listen - sit at the feet of the Saviour, reading, waiting.
• bring your thoughts into subjection - take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
• prepare your heart to wait on God - Be still.  Know.  He is God.

Hindrances to Having the Stillness of Soul

• entering too deeply into the interests of this world.  Be heavenly minded.  Lay up your treasure there!  Live your life like you are passing through.  This world is NOT your home!
• not being self-controlled in regard to things not absolutely imposed on us by God.  What does it matter to you if the founder of Apple died?  What is it to you that there are disasters abounding, injustices aplenty, sicknesses and sorrows in abundance?  Take care of the little things that God has given you to care for.  They are enough.
• needless entertainment.  Computer games; the internet; television; videos.  Don't waste your life!
• being too busy to stop, to rest, to wait.  Slow down.  
• worrying about earthly things - what you will wear, etc. Your Father knows.
• having a spirit of fear.  Be still and know that I am God.

The heart occupied with its own plans and efforts for doing God's will and securing the blessing of abiding in Jesus will fail continually. ~p.114, Abiding in Christ by Andrew Murray.

You can't make yourself do God's will.  You can't "buck up and do better".  You cannot pull yourself up by your bootstraps and live the Christian life on your own steam.  The only way to grow in grace, to learn to abide in Christ, to be filled with the Holy Spirit... the only way is to wait.

Pause.

Wait.

Hush your soul in the Presence of the Eternal Majesty.