Here is a devotion to start your day!
A spoken version of this devotion is available as a podcast: Still, Here: Rest Before You Begin Again
Scripture: Psalm 26:10
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
Reflection
Most of us do not always recognize when one spiritual season has ended and another is beginning. We may feel a lull, a quietness, a strange space between what has been and what is coming next. But without attention, we often rush to fill that space with busyness.
Stillness can feel unfamiliar. If we are used to measuring growth by motion, then a pause may feel like losing momentum. But sometimes the pause is part of the movement.
It is like learning to drive a standard-shift car. Between one gear and the next, there is a brief pause in power. The engine has not stopped. The journey has not ended. Something is simply being released so something else can engage.
Grace does not merely hold us so we can get back to work. Grace teaches us that God offers rest so we can refocus for the next season.
There is wisdom in the pause before entering a room, beginning a conversation, or stepping into a responsibility. A moment of stillness can help us let go of the distractions we brought with us and become present to what love requires now.
Held in Grace has reminded us that we are not holding ourselves together. Have This Mind will invite us to let God reshape the way we see. But between being held and being renewed, there is a holy pause.
Do not rush past it.
Be still.
God is here.
Prayer of Presence
God of grace,
Teach me to receive the pause instead of resisting it. Release me from the urgency that makes stillness feel like failure. Quiet the need to fill every open space with noise, effort, or control. Help me notice where I have been, where I am now, and where You are gently preparing me to go. Let this pause become a place of trust. Let this stillness become a doorway into renewal.
– Amen
Carry This Prayer With You
Breathe in: Be still…
Breathe out: …God is here
You do not have to rush from one season into the next. God is not absent in the pause. The grace that held you is also preparing you.
Steady... publishes Tuesday, June 9, and Have This Mind begins Monday. This week, let the bridge between them become a place of trust.
This work is freely shared. If it nourishes your life with God, you’re welcome to help sustain it.
Psalm 46:10 - one of my favorite go to verses!