
Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father call out to us in our day to day lives, to be still, and know that He is God. Father, we are so busy, so burdened, so caught up in all the many things of life. There is no one so faithful to you that still does not know the pain of losing sight of you, in the day to day. Father, call us to your side, this Christmas. May we seek you in the still, quiet places and spaces you have made for us in our daily lives. A walk. A drive. A cup of coffee. Help us to hear you and acknowledge you and be with you Father. In the name of your son Jesus and by the urging of the Spirit, help us to be still in your presence! Amen.
Your Morning Song: "Silent Night (be still)" by Rend Collective
Your Morning Scripture: Psalm 46:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
...
Ah yes, Psalm 46:10. A classic Christmas verse. But perhaps you don't think so. Or maybe you've just never considered this verse during the Christmas season.
How often I have forgotten it!
Be still.
There is a temptation, a sweeping wave of busyness and burnout that demands our time and attention. Do this. Go here, Buy these. Return that. Buy more. Go back over there. Go to this thing. Go to another thing. Try not to think about how much this costs. Drive. Drive. Drive. Why does everything cost so much? Did gas just go up? Why does family have to be so difficult? Why do they have to live so far away? Why do they have to live so close? I'd be surprised if, after reading the above examples, you couldn't add a few of your own.
How often and how easily we forget the importance of being still and turning our heart and mind, our soul, our whole, towards God. At all times. But especially during the very busy and often overwhelming Christmas season.
The unbelieving world struggles and strives to live by their own power, lost in a cycle of trying and failing apart from God. Both in view of eternity, and in the day to day living (neither as far apart as we might think). The world living this way, or trying to, makes sense. They deny and reject and ignore God. How could they ever know true stillness and peace?
Why do so many of us so often act like the unbelieving world? We strive and struggle and stress, all by our own power. And then we burn out. We get bitter. We lose sleep. Our very bones tremble with the stress of all the things and doings of the Christmas season. And for many of us, there is at least a flavor of "I can't wait for December 26th." The season suddenly becomes more bitter than sweet.
What can we do? For ourselves? For others?
Be still, and turn our whole selves towards God. Encourage stillness, and invite others to turn their whole selves towards God. Prayer and reading the Bible are perhaps the easiest way to do this. But you could also go for a walk, in silence, and tell God that the time is His.
Whatever you need to do, and however you need to do it, seek God with your whole self this Christmas season, and be still.

Thank you for this reminder! Being still in this season can be quite challenging. I need seek some quiet connection with God to tap into His promised perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3) that comes when my mind is stayed on Him!