To be still these days is no easy matter. Our lives are filled with instant news, social media with its thousand distractions, demanding jobs, angry people, great disasters, violence, illness and quiet heartbreak. The solace of stillness may seem, for many, to be a long way off.
In the past 2 years, I have had to fight the depression of unemployment, poverty, a constant state of uncertainty moving from place to place, and the verbal abuse of an unhinged person. It was an almost daily battle just to wake up and struggle through another day. Though I have been able to start over and remove myself from that situation, a few recent experiences have brought those feelings of fear, anger, anxiety and depression back to the surface. It was exhausting in every sense of the word.
After a particularly terrible day, I laid down on my bed and said a short and heartfelt prayer. “Heavenly Father, please help me to heal from this.” After I closed the prayer, I laid there silently just letting my mind wander with my eyes closed. About a minute later, I heard an instrumental song that I love begin to play through my mind. Then I felt Him and I heard Him. It was, as the scripture says, a still small voice. It was a voice that was filled with such gentleness, peace and light that I felt profoundly loved.
His answers provided me comfort, peace and guidance during a time where things seemed fairly hopeless. The song that played through my mind was no coincidence. It’s titled “Hymn to Hope” by Secret Garden. (Linked below.) The answers I had just received gave me real hope that certain things I have been waiting on were at my door and my life was about to turn around. The heavy darkness and burdens were almost instantly lifted and I could get off my bed and face the next steps.
It is hard to shut away the world, even for a few moments. But I promise this, the peace that comes from that stillness is worth more than anything else this world can offer. “Be still…and know that I am God.”
Wallflower Blossoming 