Be Still In Mind, Heart, and Soul

 

“Be still and know that I am God! 

I will be honored by every nation. 

I will be honored throughout the world.”

Psalm 46:10

 

This has been a favorite verse of mine for many years. And I am learning that this kind of stillness is much more than to just sit down and stop moving.

 

While we should, indeed, find times to physically be still in the presence of the Lord, I  believe we are also called to be still in other ways.

 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  

Matthew 22:37

 

To love Him this way requires a quiet confidence in who God is. And that requires us to also be still in heart, soul, and mind.

 

STILL MIND

My mind, at times, is filled with lies, doubts, and fears. These thoughts are deposited there by the world, by my broken human self, and by Satan and his accomplices. If I allow it, they start to swirl around and grow like a tropical storm gaining strength and becoming a tornado. They feed off of each other and I am consumed by them.

 

We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we are to capture these rebellious thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.

 

But how do we do that?

 

We can start by purposely focusing our thoughts on who God is.

 

You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139: 5-10

 

When we have a solid knowledge of who God is – how good He is, and how faithful He is –  we can start to still our thoughts, recognize the lies, and transform them into the truth of what He has to say about us and our circumstances. We can start to discern the thoughts that don’t align with the things that God says, hand them over to Him, and make them bow down and submit to Him. This breaks the power of fear and doubt as we begin to realize how weak those lies really are. The Truth that we find in God’s Word is where the real power lives, so practice intentionally placing your thoughts there instead.

 

STILL HEART

The world tells us, “Follow your heart!”

 

God’s Word tells us, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

 

There is a close link between what the mind chooses and how the heart responds.

 

With a mind that chooses to focus on Jesus, my heart is led into deeper relationship with Him. With a mind that chooses to search for His desires and promises, my heart develops those same desires. With a mind that chooses to praise in all circumstances, my heart begins to still in response to chaos around me.

 

Don’t follow your heart, lead it.

 

STILL SOUL

The soul is a combination of mind, will, and emotions.

 

Often in this trio, my emotions would like to take center stage and direct the show. But in that scenario my life just careens out of control from anger, to worry, to fear, to sadness, to discontent.

 

Emotions are meant to be felt, but our mind and will should be the ones to direct our actions.

 

Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Psalm 4:4

 

The emotion is not the sin, don’t let that lie take hold. But, like the heart, our emotions need to take their appropriate place rather than leading us from one emergency to another.

 

We were not made to exist in a state of emotional crisis. Let your mind – focused on God’s Word – still your soul and lead your will and emotions.

 

STEADFAST CONFIDENCE

Even when we can’t stop moving, when the responsibilities of life have us running on overdrive, when we can’t seem to find a time to stop, we can be still in mind, heart, and soul in the steadfast confidence of a solid connection with Jesus. 

 

This stillness is available every minute of every day when He is our foundation, our anchor, the vine to which we are attached.

 

Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

John 15:4a

 

Jesus has already won the victory for us. When we accept His gift we are granted an inheritance in that victory. The storms of the world will continue to come against us with gale force winds and torrential downpours. But we can, indeed, be still in the midst of it all.

 

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 

 

Jesus is the eye of the storm. He is the place where we can rest in quiet, steadfast confidence.