Still

by Anne Mize

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This blog post was previously published on 2pentecostals.com on March 31st, 2020. 

I don’t need to tell you that we are living in an unprecedented time in history. Most of us here in the good ol’ USA have never felt what we are feeling now.

Sure, 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, and it did forever change us as a nation, but many of us were back to “normal” within a couple of weeks.

The 2008 recession was scary. We read the news articles that proclaimed a once robust housing market was crashing around us.

And what about Hurricane Katrina? We watched from our cozy house in Indiana as the devastation unfolded in New Orleans.

Sad? YES! Scary? Absolutely!

Personal? Not for me…. and unless you lived near the Gulf, probably not for you either.

But this?

This is scary AND very personal.

As I sit here this afternoon, I can say that my world has been turned upside down. It’s Monday afternoon, and I didn’t go to my job this morning or drop my son off at school. Instead, he is sitting in our living room, doing school work on a Chromebook.

On Friday, I sat at the kitchen table and navigated an unemployment application for the first time in my life.

Earlier today, we blew kisses to my nieces, whose family is in quarantine, as they lined up at the picture window.

No one saw it coming.

We were working, and planning, and dreaming. Then suddenly everything screeched to a halt.

Our vocabulary has changed: social distancing, coronavirus, outbreaks, hot-spots, pandemic, quarantine…

Instead of giving us levity or serving as a distraction, social media feeds the information frenzy – rampant with rumors, statistics, videos, photos, and arm-chair epidemiologists.

It is so easy to be sucked into the vortex of fear and panic surrounding this pandemic.

But it’s not all bad news.

In this uncertain moment, I have seen so many amazing things. I’ve seen families biking or walking together, strangers paying for groceries, and communities supporting small businesses.

I’ve seen the church be “the church” – proving that a church is not a building with four walls, but a body of believers reaching out to one another and the world that so desperately needs them.

I’ve seen sinners pray for believers and believers trevail for people they’ve never met.

I’ve watched my pastor be the wise shepherd that he is; giving us loving direction and assurance.

Maybe this is our chance to hit reset? I think the song by 4Him said it best: “We need to get back to the basics of life”.

Maybe we should get back to the basics of life. Maybe this is the time for doing just that.

Romans 12:9 ~ “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

This is just the beginning, it goes much further.

I can’t help but think that maybe God has been speaking to me and maybe I was too busy to listen.

Maybe I heard Him and acknowledged what He said, but didn’t make any time for Him in my schedule.

Maybe, just maybe, He had something amazing that He was calling me to do and I never stopped long enough to hear.

Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

This is our opportunity!

What if we take this time to be still in His presence?

Maybe we press pause on our Netflix series, silence our phones, and spend some time in the Word. No distractions – just being still before Him. He will give us peace in the storm and joy that is unspeakable.

Psalms 91:2 says, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

One of my favorite husband/wife songwriter teams penned this song and it has been on repeat at our house over the last week.

“Still” Words & Music by Christy Nockels & Nathan Nockels
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
CCLI License No. CSPL112629