Be Still and Know... A Five Minute Friday post.

***
I see the word and think of something we just chatted about for our latest episode, "The Christmas Story - Gospel Edition" on The Changing Our Minds Podcast... and I also think about how I keep wishing all of this Stillness and Waiting would move along already!

Here we go:

This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer
and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: STILL

{GO!}


When I see the one-word prompt,
my mind goes to an all familiar phrase...
one that we say often and one that has
felt oh so bossy as of late: 

"Be Still and Know that I am God." (~Psalm 46:10)

I mean... I used to love this verse!  
I used to relish in entering in a bit of
Stillness and Silence.  

I'm sure I will come to love it once again,
but over the past month or so
I have grown weary of waiting.

I've been pondering the 400+ years of silence
and it is not lost on me
--how my impatience is so silly
in light of my (relatively 'short') wait.  

And also there is this: 
I know deep down in my bones and my soul
that --always!-- He is worth that waiting...
He is worth the wait!

Then my heart goes back to a conversation
I had with my girlie just yesterday
as we recorded a new episode for our podcast.

We were reading through the Christmas Story
according to Luke and we were discussing
Zechariah and his encounter with the angel Gabriel.

Did you know that this was
the first spoken message from heaven
in over 400 years...
(and side note: the last message
was sent to another Zechariah!)

Zechariah was called up to burn the incense
and many believe that with the number
of priests in Jesus' day - this was a
once in a lifetime honor.

I love how Gabriel greets him and says, 

"Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God is showing grace to you..."

Whenever an angel comes on the scene,
it seems the first greeting is always to put
our hearts and minds at ease!
God is showing grace to you...
what a lovely thing to say!

Gabriel goes on: 

"For I have come to tell you that your prayer for a child has been answered. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you are to name him John..."

The original verb for 'prayer' implies it could have read:
"the prayer you no longer pray"  

--I mean, you guys!??!

How many of us used to pray for things... 
but we lost our Focus or our Faith?
We didn't necessarily stop believing
that He COULD... 
we just accidentally stopped hoping
that He WOULD, right?

So, Zechariah found this too hard to believe
and he asks for a sign. 
Gabriel, as we discuss in the podcast,
comes off a little sassy and he says,
"Alrighty then! Here is your sign: Mute!"
(That's a loose translation, but you get the idea!)

Zech asks for a sign to prove the Word
and the sign he gets renders him
unable to speak... 

Enter his own season of silence...
enter his own 'invitation'
to slow and to savor...
to soak and to still...

How many know
it takes nine months
to birth something new?

{STOP!}

As we read through the rest of the story in Luke 1,
we get to the moment when John is born and finally - 
Zechariah is able to talk once again!

And you know what he speaks?
Scripture, Praises, and Prophecy!
Maybe we should take note and follow suit!

Maybe, if you --like me--
are in a Season of Silence...
of waiting and wishing
it would just be over already
and you were free to move on
to the next thing...
maybe we should purpose to
lean in and stay still
--even if/when everything within us
is urging us to press ahead... 
and instead, get into the Word
and stand on those promises
and remember those prayers
that we stopped praying
and stir up our faith once more!

Maybe we should practice
in the silent and holy night
the reciting of Promises and Prophesies
spoken over us and let Hope arise... 

Maybe we need to hold each other up

and remind each other of Truth 

and that He's worth the wait...

And maybe He is, yet again,
inviting us during these long winter nights,
to wait with advent
and to expect with anticipation 
and yes, to also
Be Still and Know...

and to Just Breathe!

Once again, the Gorgeous Photographs are courtesy of Joanna Kosinska via Unsplash.

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "STILL"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second-guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Lori Schumaker for #MomentsofHope

Holley Gerth for #LetsHaveCoffee

We have one more Christmas-themed episode of THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST. We read through the Gospel account of the Christmas Story in Luke and talked about Jesus... His long-awaited arrival, and how that unfolded, and how the Cradle was all leading to the Cross! Also, if you haven't listened yet, check out Episode #010: All Things Christmas! We'd love for you to join us around the table as we share some of our favorite things about the holidays! We will be recording our next episode after the New Year (where chances are good we'll talk about fresh starts and do-overs and new goals and maybe even that One Word we're focusing on in 2019!