Still

A few days ago I was having a rough day. I often feel a bit overwhelmed at the office. Too many things to do, not enough time to do them. Not uncommon for most people I guess.

This particular day, though, the pressure was mounting. It had been a week of getting very little accomplished. I did something I don't do often. I reached out and asked for prayer. Then the words came across my screen:

Be still and listen.

It was a gentle reminder that I was trying to get it all done in my own power. Later that day, I was so distracted I wasn't getting anything done, so I took my Bible outside to read. It was a beautiful day so I found a picnic table and opened the Book. It fell open to Isaiah 43 (one of my favorites, so it's no wonder it opened right to it). I began to read and the wind picked up. This was not a nice spring breeze. This was 30 mph gusts.

I sat there as long as I could, protecting the words on the page from the wind and the sun. In the midst of the chaos of the wind turning the pages, people running around and my water bottle floating across the table, I heard that still small voice in my head saying:

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

That's all that really matters. Not who I am or what I've accomplished, but Whose I am. Even in the midst of all the noise that wind brings with it, God's whisper can be heard when we are still.