One-a-Day...for the Heart: Stay-at-Home
It was like a grownup time-out. Being ordered to stay at home by government authorities was a Type A personality’s Alcatraz. I was okay with it because I’m only partly Type A, but the Lord indeed flushed out the 100%ers! Home became a prison, minus barred windows and locked cells.
Type A people, according to Healthline and Wikipedia, are “outgoing, ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-conscious, impatient, anxious, proactive, concerned with time management, competitive, highly focused on personal goals, dislike wasting time, likely to experience stress when faced with delays that affect success.” Along come the Type B’s, who are “easygoing, relaxed, and highly flexible.” They are laid back, do not experience stress when to-do lists become to-don’t lists, tend to spend time on creative pursuits, and are not driven to complete school or work assignments.
We probably need both types to make the world work. However, most of us would agree that Alcatraz would have been much more bearable if all the inmates had been relaxed, easygoing, and happy to explore their creative side. Our Creator has a word for us all, including Type A’s, B’s, C’s (detail-oriented, logical), D’s (cautious, stabilizing), and X’s (equal combinations of two types). He says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The MESSAGE version says, “Attention! Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God, above politics, above EVERYTHING.”
There we were—we couldn’t work, shop, visit, dine out, go to school or church—fill in the blank with the many limitations that applied to your family during the pandemic. What we COULD do was step out of the traffic and take a long, loving look at our High God…above EVERYTHING.
Traffic for much of the world had all but stopped during the stay-at-home season of government-mandated restrictions, so it should have been easy to step out of it. We were forced to stop moving about and juggling the activities that filled our everyday lives.
How many people took advantage of the break from busy schedules to quiet their hearts before God and spend time with Him? Some, driven by fear of the unknown disease slithering around the globe, tuned into TV and online church services, hoping to find comfort. That was good, but there was, and still is, no substitute for alone time with the Lord.
How much more effective it could have been to sense the Lord Himself speak, “Fear not,” to our troubled hearts as we set time aside to sit in stillness before Him. It’s called a rhema word from the Lord—a living, active, fresh-from-the-throne word from the Lord to us for the present moment. It often comes during times of quietness (stillness) before God.
Today, we are free from pandemic restrictions, but if you’re still feeling driven and anxious to get moving, perhaps you’re uncomfortable taking a long, loving look at our High God. Being still and waiting on the Lord can be awkward, especially if you fill every waking moment of the day with busyness, activity, goals, and projects. Don’t miss the opportunity to pray and spend time with the Lord. Your life will change! Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you! That’s a promise we’re reminded of in James 4:8.
King David’s words in Psalm 17:6 are a sweet picture of our High God’s attentiveness to us: "I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray." Why not make time today to sit in stillness before the Lord and invite Him to bend down and come near? He loves that!
© 2023, Chris Custer Werre