Lately, I feel like God has been asking me to stand still. I hate standing still. It doesn't come naturally for me by any means. I want to move. I want to get things done, and I'd like for it to happen as quickly as possible. For me to stand still requires a great amount of grace and power from God. It's tougher than you'd think!
Some people need God's power to move and step out in faith because they struggle with fear or boldness. I feel as though I'm willing to do anything when God asks me to do it with little regard to fear, but when He isn't asking me to do anything I get nervous and my faith begins to falter. In this season of quietness and waiting and standing, I have asked God why. What good does waiting do for me?
This morning I was reading my bible and I came across Ephesians 3:18
As the day moved on, I began browsing through the World Race website and reading some of the recent blogs of racers who are in the middle of their mission. (I love reading their blogs and building anticipation for what I will experience on my mission trip). I came across one racer's blog (Lauren Lognion) and she was talking about how she has learned to live without expectations. She writes,
God's Power to Live Care Free.
God's Power to Stand Still.
God's Power to Understand His Love.
I felt like all of these things were connected in some way. The very next verse in Ephesians (v. 19) says
Finally, my Aha moment! God's love isn't just that He died for us. It's much greater than that. We need His power to understand it because it is too deep, too wide, too great, and too high for our human minds to comprehend. Verse 19 says that even when we experience it, it is still too great to understand fully! God's love is the basis for everything that He does and should be the foundation for everything that we do. His love is in everything. 1 John 4:8 tells us that GOD IS LOVE, and that explains why Paul prayed that we would all be granted the power to understand it, because knowing God's love means knowing God. Understanding this will make us "complete with all the fullness of life".
According to Webster, the word "understand" means 'to perceive and comprehend the nature and significance of; to grasp; to know thoroughly by close contact or long experience with'. And that is exactly what God's power helps us do.
To comprehend the nature and significance of
To know thoroughly by close contact or long experience with
For me, this means standing still and waiting on the Lord. For Lauren, this means making the most of each situation and living care free. What does understanding God's love look like for you? I pray that you take note of the things that God is asking of you … the things that require His power to do (whether big or small). I know that the reason for it is so that He can show you how much He loves you, and I pray that you may have the power to understand just how deep that love is.
