For the past several years, as I’ve prayed and fasted over an issue I’m trying to deal with in life, I keep receiving the following impression: Be Still. Now, it’s just not in my nature to be still. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem being physically still. I can rest and relax with the best of them. If there were an Olympic category for reading in a hammock, I’d probably win. But mentally still? That’s a whole different sport.
If there’s a life issue to think about, something to spend countless hours struggling to understand, believe me, I’ll be putting in those hours. Thinking, talking, praying, writing, researching, pondering, comparing, and dare I admit it – crying. Yup, I can’t say I’m adept at mental stillness. Yet that is the answer I keep receiving. Be Still. Be Still. Be Still.
I don’t even know what that means. Stop trying? Stop thinking? Stop praying? That can’t be right.
Mental Stillness
My first stab at understanding the repeated admonition to Be Still was to cast my mind over scripture and see what familiar verses I might dredge up. At once, Psalms 46:10 rose to my awareness, “Be still and know that I am God.” Ok, that’s a start. I can dig a little deeper in that. The know that I am God part, I think I’ve got that down, more or less. At least, it makes sense to me and resonates with my faith in Heavenly Parents and the Savior. Yeah, I can do that. I can know that. But that still leaves the first part: Be Still.
Have I gotten any further? Maybe you’ve noticed the same thing I have. Whatever being still, mentally still, means, I am not doing it. My mind continues whirring, my heart is worrying, just on a new topic.
Have you been here, too? Have you been so consumed by a difficulty in your life that it’s all you can think about and you forget, like me, what it even means to “Be still and know that I am God.”?
God-Reliance
We are taught to take care of our problems. We are taught to be proactive and self-reliant. But in our quest to do these good, right things, do we sometimes forget to be God-reliant? What is God telling us when He says, “Be still and know that I am God.”?
I don’t think it means that we stop looking for solutions to tough issues. I don’t think it means we stop directing our lives. But perhaps it means we stop letting our problems consume us. Viewing life through the lens of our struggles skews our perspective. It’s like looking at a sunny hillside through a dirty window. The sun becomes gray, the green grass a blur, and lovely flowers indefinable smudges.
We must stop seeing life through the lens of our difficulties, no matter how horrible they may be. Because honestly, are trials the only things that define us? Do my problems sum up my experience here on earth?
Of course not.
Who Am I?
I am a beloved daughter of Heavenly Parents with a divine nature and eternal destiny. Surely that means more than any trial I face, no matter how painful, no matter how enduring. Surely that should fill my thoughts. Surely my mental energy would be better spent contemplating what it means for me to be a beloved child of God.
Understanding my divine nature can help me direct my life. Fasting and prayer can reveal my eternal destiny. This can shift my focus from myself, my struggles, my heartache and pain to a contemplation of who I am and who the Lord can help me become. Wouldn’t this be a better use of my thoughts and my time? Couldn’t this foundational choice shape my daily actions, my attitude, and my perspective? And if my focus is on living up to my divine nature and fulfilling my eternal destiny, couldn’t I simply give over my struggles to my Heavenly Parents and feel their arms around me as they fight my battles?
Is This What It Means?
Is this what it means to “Be Still and Know that I am God”? How simple. How plain. But what an act of faith. And what consistent, repeated determination it takes for us to continually sacrifice our fears, our heartache, our struggles, our worry, our pain, our confusion on the altar of stillness and faith. But surely this is an affirmation of our belief in the love and strength of our Heavenly Parents. Surely this is profound mental shift of focus to not what is lacking or troubling, but to who I am and who I can become. Divine nature. Eternal destiny. Let God deal with the rest.
Another way to look at this, is to consider, What can I control in my life? Can I control others and prevent cruelty, betrayal, or addiction? No. Influence, maybe, sometimes, but not control. Can I control nature and prevent natural disasters, genetic disorders or eliminate cancer? No. Influence, maybe, sometimes, but not control. Can I control society and prevent riots, car crashes, or the rise of self-absorption? No. No, I can’t.
What I can control is me. Well, sometimes. It’s an ongoing effort. But you know what I mean. I can work on the things I can control – my attitude, my focus, my perspective.
Stillness Through Gratitude
In Grateful, No Matter What, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf explains how we can adjust our attitude through living with thanksgiving daily. “Everyone’s life is different,” he explains, “but all of us experience hard times. Sometimes we may feel sad or lonely. Sometimes we may be sick or confused. But there is one thing we can always do to make life sweeter and more joyful. We can be grateful!”
He acknowledges that while gratitude may always not be easy, it is possible and can shift how we think and feel.
“Being grateful during hard times does not mean that we are happy with our circumstances. It does mean that we have faith to look beyond our challenges. When we are grateful, we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).”
Stillness Through Focus
In a 1974 talk that is highly relevant to our current political and social climate, President Gordon B. Hinckley explores how what we choose to focus on affects us. He suggests that instead of absorbing angry attitudes and spewing out vitriolic ideas, we take a more peaceful, uplifting approach. In his words, “I come this morning with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort” (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled).
He explains that we don’t need to silence the sincere, honest voice of correction. But at the same time, “look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears.”
Stillness Through Perspective
In a blog post, Megan Komm describes eternity as being like a circle. She explains that our divine identity exists eternally. It existed before this part of life and will continue forever. One of the challenges we face is to see ourselves outside the current moment.
“Because we’re trained to see this mortal life in a linear fashion,” she says, “we often fail to see who we truly are eternally, usually because this mortal life hasn’t yet given us the opportunity to manifest certain aspects of our eternal being. But we can overcome this short-sightedness by expanding our view from where we are to who we are. Everything you have been or will be is who you are right now.”
Stillness Through Surrender
Even as we focus on changing ourselves instead of struggling with the trials in our lives, we can slip back into a state of restlessness, racing thoughts, and worry. Joyce Meyer explains in her book, Let God Fight Your Battles, “In waging spiritual warfare, we must remember that we war against our enemy, Satan…not against flesh and blood. In other words, we do not fight against people – other people or our own selves…We won’t change anything by struggling and being frustrated. Only God can fight and win the battles we fight within ourselves.”
She recommends that instead of wrestling with others or with ourselves, we worship God instead, relying on Him to transform us. As the Psalmist says, “O clap your hands, all ye people: shout unto God with the voice of triumph” (Psalm 47:1).
Practical Steps You CAN Take
- Accept the Lord’s admonition to Be Still
- Recognize when your thoughts start running, your anxiety spikes, or you become consumed by a difficulty.
- Remember your divine nature and eternal destiny.
- Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
- Focus on the good in life.
- Live with an eternal perspective.
- Trust God to fight your battles.
- Be joyful. Worship.
What are some ways you cultivate stillness and faith in God?
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