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Sharla Fritz

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Be Still

“Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10   

I love those words. These eight simple syllables bring relaxation to my body just by reciting them. They create pictures of serene sunsets in my mind. They produce peace in my soul.  

But life is hectic. How often do I actually take time for stillness?   And what does “be still” mean anyway?   Here are four looks at the meaning of that phrase.

To be still is to obey God’s command to be quiet because He knows what is best for us.  Years ago I heard author Cynthia Heald speak on this verse. She said that God’s admonition to “be still” was a little like a mother telling her children to “Be quiet” in church. She pictured a parent shaking her child by the shoulder to get him to settle down and pay attention if he knew what was good for him. God invites us to rest. But because we don’t always listen, He issues a command–a command for our own good.

To be still is to relax knowing God is God.  John Piper, author of Desiring God, writes about coming back from vacation and feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks that needed to be done. So what did he do first? He went to his quiet basement and read Psalm 46. He told himself, “Be still, soul! Stop rehearsing. Relax. Breath deep. There. Now, know this: God is God. God is God. Just be still and let that hit you. Let it grow.” (Click here to read more.) We can relax because God is all-powerful and always has our best interests in mind.

To be still is to rest in God’s love.  Pastor R.C. Sproul, also writes about Psalm 46. he reminds us that we cannot come to the point of relaxing in God’s arms until we remember His great love for us. “We will rest in His sovereignty when we remember not just that He is almighty, but that He who is almighty loves us with an everlasting love.” (Click here to read more.) We can rest in God’s arms because His Word reminds us of His relentless love and never-ending care for us.

To be still is to let go. What do these words mean in the original Hebrew? The site hebrew4christians.com tells us that, “The command to “be still” comes from the Hiphil stem of the verb (רפה) rapha (meaning to be weak, to let go, to release), which might better be translated as, “cause yourselves to let go” or “let yourselves become weak.” To be still is to surrender to the almighty God who loves you more than life. To loosen our grip on our issues and problems and trust in God’s ability to manage everything for the best.

In our rush-rush world, stillness can be as elusive as quiet on a freeway. But a stillness of soul is more of an attitude of the heart than a condition of silence. When your heart becomes anxious, when your soul starts to churn, remember: God is in control, He loves me with a relentless love. He commands me to be still because He knows what is best for me. He invites me to let go of my concerns and worries because He wants to manage them for me.

Next step: Monitor the state of your soul today. When you start to feel anxious, repeat the words of Psalm 46:10 to your spirit, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Which of the interpretations of that phrase do you need most today? For more on the Spiritual Discipline of silence, look here.

When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed: Do One Thing

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Feeling overwhelmed? You have too many responsibilities on your calendar. Too many events in your schedule. Too many projects on your desk. It seems like you can’t even do one thing.

These days most of us have our schedules so packed full that we feel overwhelmed, stressed, and burdened.

That’s when Jesus’ words in Matthew almost make us laugh:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.

We think: But Jesus, You don’t know my schedule. Don’t you see that my calendar has no slots for rest? My burden does not feel light.

At the beginning of this summer I was feeling overwhelmed. I had so many responsibilities and so many things that I wanted to do that there simply wasn’t enough time in the day to do it all. I was trying to pack 36 hours of activities into a 24-hour day and it wasn’t working. Every day I wrote down a long, detailed to-do list. But every day I felt defeated because I was never able to check off everything on my list.

One morning in June I took spent some time with Jesus at a park. I took a lawn chair, my Bible, a few good books, and my journal. As I journaled about my sense of drowning in my to-do list I felt God ask me to write down everything I felt I needed to do. The list was long. There were writing responsibilities, church duties, family needs.

As I looked at the list, I realized that many of the things on the list were things that I felt a responsibility to do, but no one had given me that duty. I was taking on a burden that God had not really intended me to carry. Jesus’ burden is light, but Sharla’s backpack of chores is a bag of bricks.

As I prayed over this list, God seemed to whisper a solution.

What if every day you asked Me the one thing I wanted you to do? What if you joyfully and wholeheartedly worked on that task that day in My power? If there is more time available you could work on other items on your list, but if I directed You to rest or concentrate on relationships you would follow My lead. Then your burden would be light. Your work load easy.

I have to admit that I am still struggling to put this into practice. My days are still too full. But step by step I am learning the power of one thing.

Following Christ.

Next step: Take a moment right now and ask Jesus, “What is the one thing You want me to do today?” Make a plan to accomplish that one thing as soon as possible, asking Him for the strength to complete that task.

To learn more about focusing on one thing avoiding distraction, check out my book Distracted: Finding Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World.

Distracted: Finding Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World

How would you describe your life? Focused, calm, in control? Or is it more like overwhelmed, chaotic, and distracted?

At the beginning of every year I pick one word that I hope will characterize the next twelve months. In January of 2015 I chose the word “focus.” The previous two years seemed like a whirlwind of activity with little direction. My schedule had grown into a large unfocused mess. I taught private piano students and sat down at my computer to blog and write. I volunteered at a homeless shelter and directed my church choir. I attended a Toastmasters group and led a women’s Bible study. I felt overwhelmed and distracted.

The path of my life had grown from a single road heading in one direction, to a highway with many appealing exits and detours. God whispered, “Keep your eyes on Me.” But too often I succumbed to the enticing signs that lured me from Christ’s path for my life. It wasn’t that I followed roads to immorality. But I kept following signs that promised greater success or a bigger life purpose. And too often these signs pointed to paths not meant for me. These paths led away from peace, serenity, and intimacy with God and toward greater frustration.

Time for a Change

So at the beginning of 2015 I wanted a change. I began praying for focus. For direction. For wisdom to discern between the important and the trivial.

Little did I know that just around the corner was an event that would change everything.

My husband was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Just a few days into 2015 our family physician called John with the news. Our calendars began to fill with doctor appointments and medical tests. Hospitals and cancer centers became our destinations.

I discovered that a life-crisis can quickly put things into perspective. Suddenly I had no difficulty in abandoning activities I no longer found fulfilling. I had a good excuse to leave organizations that had become life-draining instead of life-giving.

Although my life path was headed in a direction I never expected, I found it much easier to ignore the tempting exits not meant for me.  Suddenly life had focus.

The Focused Path

I thought about my life path when I read this well-known passage in Matthew:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)

Of course, this passage is talking about the road to salvation. Jesus told us He is the only Way to eternal life. Through parables, He explained that He is the gate.

But perhaps this verse can also be a picture of a meaningful life here on earth. Maybe a broad road filled with too many roadside stops and littered with too many belongings leads to the destruction of peace and tranquility. Perhaps a narrow road pointed in the right direction with few exits or detours leads to a full and abundant life.

Living Life Distracted

In this modern world, it’s easy to live distracted. In fact, it’s difficult not to be sidetracked by the myriad of things clamoring for our attention. Societal pressures to have more, do more, be more divert us from the life God meant for us to live. Media convinces us we need one more gadget. Pressure to be successful leads us to take on one more responsibility at work. The burden to leave a legacy compels us to say yes to one more worthy cause.

And yet with all this doing and having, we still feel unfulfilled. In the quest to have it all, we wonder if we have missed something important. We sense that we have been spending too much time and effort on the trivial and not enough on what really matters.

Thankfully, you don’t have to go through a life emergency to change the road you are traveling. I created a book so you don’t have to wait for a crisis—you can learn from mine.

 So How Can I Live Life Focused?

In my book, Distracted: Finding Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World, you will discover sixteen habits of living with focus. These are the very habits that helped me discard distracting activities from my calendar when my husband was going through cancer treatment. They are the habits I have continued to use to create a life that is meaningful and life-affirming. These routines enable me to avoid disappointing detours and remain on the path God has laid out for me.

You can keep living the distracted life. Racing through life following every disappointing detour. Rushing through a thousand activities without enjoying any.

You could wait for a life crisis to change your course.

Or you could ask God to transform your path. You could delve into sixteen life-altering habits that will help you stay in the narrow path leading to a full and meaningful life.

God is calling you to the road that leads to life. A full, focused life.

Next step: Start this journey to more focused living by closing your eyes and imagining you are driving down the road of life. Ask yourself, “Where is this road headed? Is this where I want to go?” Then in your mind’s eye, look at the signs along the road. What do the signs say? Which ones are the most distracting? Which ones pull you off your main road? Open your eyes and record your thoughts.

This post is an excerpt from my book Distracted: Finding Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World. If you would like to learn more about avoiding distractions and living a focused life, check out the book Distracted: Finding Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World on Amazon.

The ebook is only $3.99!

Inside you will find 16 Faith-Focus Habits that will help you:

  • find focus by connecting to God 
  • truly pay attention to what is essential
  • prioritize your day
  • find focus in your work
  • make important choices
  • defeat the distractions of technology
  • find rest in our hectic world

4 Ways To Notice God in Your Ordinary Days

What did you notice today? I asked myself this question every day for the past year. At the beginning of 2019. I chose “notice” as my word for the year because I wanted to intentionally notice God in my ordinary days. 

I know from God’s Word that He is always with me:

“He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
(Hebrews 13:5 ESV)


 But often I’m too busy to notice Him! By asking myself “What did I notice today?” I slowed down for a minute to contemplate how the Father blessed me that day, how the Son made His presence known, how the Spirit whispered God’s truth to me in the Word.

I started this search by reading The God Hunt by Karen Mains. In this book, the author points out four categories of places where she looks for God in her everyday life: any obvious answer to prayer, any unexpected evidence of His care, any help to do God’s work in the world, any unusual linkage or timing.

Using these as a guideline, I’ve become a little better at spotting God at work in my life.

Here are some ways I’ve seen God lately:

Any obvious answer to prayer. 

Last week, I met a friend for coffee. We’ve been reading and discussing a book together, so I brought my iPad with the Kindle version of the book. However, when I left the cafe where we met, I forgot my tote bag with the iPad in it. I didn’t notice my forgetfulness until I got home. All the way back, I prayed my bag would still be there. And it was!

Any unexpected evidence of His care. 

The winter canopy of clouds in Chicagoland has left me feeling blue. But just when I needed it most, friends of ours asked my husband and me to meet them for pizza. God knew I needed time with special people!

Any help to do God’s work in the world. 

I’ve been working on editing a book for a friend of a friend. This kind of writing is new to me, but God has given me the wisdom needed to complete the project.

Any unusual linkage or timing. 

I’ve been praying for a few new piano students. In January I got four new students! Unusual timing in that students usually start lessons at the beginning of the school year, but God’s timing is always best!

Gradually, I’m learning to notice God in the everyday stuff of life.

(It’s not too late to choose your own word for 2020. Here are a few ways you can get more out of your word.)

Next Step: What did you notice today? Take time to write down how you noticed God in an answer to prayer, evidence of His care, help to do His work, or some unusual timing.

Spiritual Disciplines For When You Struggle With Forgiveness

What do you do when you struggle with forgiveness?

We’ve all been hurt. We’ve received unkind words. Other people have disappointed or deceived us. We may feel like those closest to us have stabbed our hearts or trampled our feelings in the dust.

We know we should forgive, but how?

Recently, Michelle Diercks and I had a conversation about this on her podcast “Peace in His Presence.” Click here to listen in!

Below you will find the main points of our conversation, along with other helpful information.

Spiritual Disciplines For When You Struggle With Forgiveness

We can’t forgive on our own—we need to go to God. And one of the ways I love to connect with Christ is through Spiritual Disciplines—practices that help us tap into God’s love and grace. Here are three disciplines that help me.

SACRED Reading

SACRED Reading is a way to meditate on God’s Word. Through times of reading, contemplation, and prayer we can hear God’s voice speak to us in the pages of Scripture.

The word SACRED is an acronym that helps me remember the steps in this practice. In the practice of SACRED reading we slow down and notice what the Holy Spirit draws our attention to. (Find the specific steps for SACRED Reading here.)

For instance, read Ephesians 4:31-32 and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit “highlights.”

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

What word or phrase does God draw your attention to?

  • Is it “bitterness”? (Do you realize you have a lot of stored-up anger?)
  • Is it “slander”? (Are you convicted of speaking negatively about a certain person you are angry with?)
  • Is it “be kind to one another”? (Because you feel you could never show kindness to a certain person?)

After you meditate on the passage, empty your heart in prayer and ask God to heal your emotions and help you forgive.

For more information on SACRED Reading, go here.

When we struggle with forgiving others, we can meditate on the forgiveness we have already received. Try meditating on these Scriptures:

Meditating on Bible Stories

Another spiritual discipline you can use when you need God’s help to forgive is meditating on Bible stories.

In this practice, use your imagination to put yourself in a Bible story. Read a Gospel story and ask the Spirit to guide your thoughts. See the scene in your mind. What sounds do you hear? What scents are in the air? Picture yourself as one of the characters in the story.

This discipline helps me experience the story in a new way. Often the Holy Spirit will show me something I never noticed before in the Word. He will speak to me the exact message I need in that moment.

Meditating on the Gospel story about the woman caught in adultery can help you get a handle on forgiveness. Read John 8:3-11. Put yourself in the story. Picture Jesus writing in the sand. Notice the accused woman–her posture, the look on her face. Imagine the accusers–their expressions and the tone of their voices. Then ask yourself these questions.

1. What character do you identify with? The woman who has been caught? The people accusing the woman of wrongdoing?

2. What are you feeling? “The other person is the guilty one!” “God should throw the book at her—at the people who have wronged me!”

3. What does Jesus say? What is your reaction to those words?

4. Perhaps read the story one more time and see it from another perspective. Put yourself in the place of one of the other characters.

For more information on meditating on Bible stories, go here.

Other Bible stories on forgiveness to meditate on:

Prayer Journaling

Hurt feelings may take a long time to heal. We may need to forgive and forgive many times as those hurt feelings resurface. One way I use unburden my heart is prayer journaling.

You may feel uncomfortable at first writing down all of your messy emotions in a prayer. But I think we are in good company when we do this! Many of the psalms seem to be David’s way of unburdening his heart. I think God invites us to take all of our feelings to Him so that He can help us deal with them.

Here are a few ways to prayer journal when you struggle to forgive:

  • Use your journal to tell God all that bothers you. Tell Him about the hurt and pain. Ask Him to help you forgive.
  • Journal what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you through your SACRED Reading or meditating on Bible stories.
  • Write out the hurtful things you experienced. Then ask God to help you forgive and destroy the paper as a concrete way to demonstrate forgiveness.

For more information on prayer journaling, go here.

When we’ve been hurt, our natural reaction is to hang onto the anger, the bitterness, the hurt. We think this will cause the other person pain. But author Joanna Weaver wisely wrote:

Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Resentment and unforgiveness only cause us pain. God can help us forgive. Let’s go to His Word and receive His love, His grace, and His power to help us let go of past hurts. Live free in forgiveness.

Book Review: A Louder Song

Are you in a period of suffering? A time of questions without answers? The book The Louder Song meets readers in the pain and ache of life. It answers the question of what to do when you’re in a period of Suffering and Not Yet. No cliches or easy answers here. Instead, author Aubrey Sampson leads readers to learn the concept of lament–the rope that keeps us tethered to God’s presence.

Written in a time when she experienced a debilitating illness and a loss of a family member, Aubrey admits she wanted to handle suffering well. She wanted to learn whatever lesson God was teaching and move on. But things didn’t happen that way. So when her life crises didn’t neatly resolve, she went to God’s Word and discovered the power of lament.

God knows life is often hard and so He included songs of lament in Scripture. Aubrey writes:

Laments minds the gap between current hopelessness and coming hope. Lament anticipates new creation but also acknowledges the painful reality of now.

God gives us the laments of those who have gone before us as a way to talk honestly with him, as a way to enter into the biblical story, as a way to connect with the suffering people of God, and as a tool for thrusting our anger and our mysteries and our losses at him.

The title of the book comes from an experience that Aubrey had at a concert where a choir walked onto a stage and sang a slow funeral dirge. The atmosphere in the theater grew dark and heavy. Then slowly another choir slowly filled the room and surrounded the audience singing a much more hopeful song. The second song gradually drowned out the dirge and Aubrey realized that the experienced mirrored spiritual life. Our existence often appears dark and plays in a minor key, but God sings to us a louder song of hope, of love, of His presence with us.


Throughout the book, Sampson weaves stories of her own sufferings with an examination of lament songs in Scripture. She reminds us that it’s OK to be honest with God and that authenticity can open our hearts to an awareness of God’s presence in the midst of our pain.

In the middle of your bleakest times, discover that lament can lead you back to hope because God sings a louder song than suffering ever could. Listen to His song of love for you. Hear His melody of promise.

I encourage you to grab a copy of The Louder Song. If you’re in a period of suffering, waiting, or illness, this is the book for you.

Book Review: All Shall Be Well

The book All Shall Be Well serves as a perfect companion to my year of aiming to notice God. At the beginning of 2019, I chose the word “notice” as my word of the year, hoping against hope that focusing on this act of noticing would help me discover God in the big and small moments of every day. One spiritual practice I use to accomplish this is the spiritual discipline of Examen, but this year I’ve been reading about new ways to remind myself of God’s omnipresence.

Fortunately, my writer friend Catherine McNiel wrote a book that guides my journey. In All Shall Be Well she shares how we can notice God’s presence in nature when we slow down enough to look. Of course, I have always appreciated the Creator’s majesty and power when I view magnificent mountains and seemingly endless oceans. But Catherine helped me see God in the smaller details of rich earth, thawing ice, and falling leaves.

All Shall Be Well led me on a journey to meet God–not in the miraculous or supernatural–but in the everyday and ordinary. Through it I’m learning to slow down enough to see God in the messy thawing of springtime, the abundance of summer, the letting go of autumn, and even the wilderness of winter. Her beautiful, poetic prose helped open my eyes to notice God in my ordinary moments and humdrum days.

One of my favorite chapters of the book, “Leaves,” recounts a time when the enormous walnut tree in her front yard released all of its leaves at one time. In a few minutes, the tree went from full to empty, leaving a thick carpet of gold on the ground. She uses this story to remind us that even as part of our spiritual journey is receiving grace from God, we also must empty ourselves. Catherine writes:

We let go of what has been, with an eye on what is to come. Mastering this lesson takes a lifetime of practice. Embedded within are so many additional lessons–humility, surrender, courage, contentment, acceptance, and above all, wisdom. (p. 107).

I encourage you to grab a copy of All Shall Be Well. If you’re longing to discover God right where you are, this is the book for you.

5 Ways to Ignore Cravings and Live By the Spirit

“Don’t do it,” I told myself as I started down the basement stairs.

“Don’t do it,” I repeated as I walked toward the shelf where my secret stash sat.

“Don’t do it,” I said again, as I opened the container.

But I did it. I grabbed a piece of mint-chocolatey goodness and popped it in my mouth. The shouts of the chocolate calling my name were louder than my own voice urging me not to give in to temptation.

I keep my stash of dark chocolate in a tin in the basement. My rationale is: out of sight, out of mind. And if the chocolate calls so loud that I can’t ignore it, at least I burn a few calories going down to the basement to get it. (Surely, going up and down one flight of stairs burns two hundred calories, right?)

Sometimes I’m able to ignore the voice of the chocolate, but sometimes, no matter how many times I tell myself, “Don’t do it,” I go down and raid my secret stash.

Chocolate Cravings and Human Desires

Chocolate cravings aren’t the most heinous of desires, but they certainly provide a good illustration of how our sinful nature does not always want what is best for us.

This week I’ve been reading through Galatians and this verse struck me:

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. (Galatians 5:16-17)

The whole discussion of desires is what motivated me to study the concept of enough. I spent a year exploring what the Bible said about finding enough, about finding contentment. (Click here for more of my posts on this topic.) Just like I sometimes ignore my own inner pleadings to ignore the shouts of the chocolate in the basement, sometimes I go against the Spirit’s nudgings and seek to satisfy more serious cravings of my sinful nature even though, deep down, I know they aren’t good for me.

As long as we live in this human body, we will have this struggle.

When Paul wrote “live by the spirit,” he used the present tense of the imperative mood in Greek. In layman’s terms, this indicates habitual conduct. We must continually listen to the prompting of the Spirit. We must always work in the power of the Spirit. Otherwise, we will constantly go back to our default mode of gratifying our sinful, human desires.

Live By the Spirit

As I thought about this, I wondered what it would mean to continually live by the Spirit. Here are a few ideas of what it looks like in my life.

  • Spend time in God’s Word. God speaks to me through Scripture. As I read, the Holy Spirit gives me guidance, teaches me about God’s kingdom, and reassures me of the Father’s love.
  • Incorporate times of silence. I find I usually need silence in order to hear God’s voice more clearly. I’m trying to start my Bible reading each day with a couple of minutes of silence to quiet my mind. Also, every month, I try to take a personal retreat–a morning to read, journal, and purposefully listen to what God wants to say to me. (If you would like to try this, read my post about taking your own personal retreat.)
  • Pay attention to feelings of dread or anxiety. These feelings may be signs that I am following the desires of my sinful nature. I take these emotions to God in prayer and ask Him to help me sort them out.
  • Memorize God’s Word. When I have Scripture stored in my heart, the Holy Spirit can pull up the appropriate verse to speak to me in His language.
  • Limit time exposed to social media, advertising, and shopping. All of these things can feed my human nature, spurring on discontent, envy, and false desires.

As I practice these things I am better able to follow the path God has for me. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” The world and Satan will always try to make us fear and doubt God’s will for us. But Paul reassures us that God’s plan for our lives is continually good. When I remind myself of that fact, I’m able to live by the Spirit and shut out the old desires that only lead to pain, anxiety, disappointment, and disillusionment.

And maybe I’ll also be able to ignore the calls of the dark chocolate stored in my basement.

Spiritual Disciplines: Meditating on Bible Stories

This post is part of my Spiritual Discipline series where we will explore practices that connect us with Jesus in His Word. If you want to find out more about Spiritual Disciplines you can look here. 

My favorite novels make my feel as if I’m part of the story. Through the author’s skillful use of word pictures, I can feel the sunshine warm my face or hear the burglar rattle the door. I can see the moon’s reflection on the lake or taste the buttery frosting on a cupcake. I can laugh at the character’s mishaps and cry with her in her pain.

God’s Word is a treasure trove of beautiful stories. Of course, the wonderful thing is that all these stories are true.

Yet Bible stories do have something in common with great novels: they tug at our hearts.

Jesus was the consummate story-teller. In just a few words He helped his listeners envision a forlorn sheep on a bleak hillside or an estranged son returning to his loving father’s arms.

One of my favorite ways to contemplate Scripture is to meditate on Bible stories–especially Gospel stories. Because I’ve known these stories ever since I was old enough to sit on a tiny chair and listen to a Sunday School teacher with a flannelgraph, it’s easy for me to gloss over these well-known accounts and miss their richness. But when I slow down and contemplate them, I notice things I’ve missed before. Jesus helps me see where I am in the story and teaches me truth for my life.

Martin Luther wrote about this way of meditating. He recommended that when we read a Gospel story, we see ourselves as the person coming to Jesus or the one being brought to Him.

When you see how he (Jesus) works, however, and he helps everyone to whom he comes or who is brought to him, then rest assured that faith is accomplishing this in you and that he is offering your soul exactly the same sort of help and favor through the Gospels…Christ is yours, presented to you as a gift. [Grace Upon Grace (p. 102), by John Kleinig]

Meditating on Bible Stories

To meditate on a Bible story:

  1. Read the text.
  2. Close your eyes and use your five senses to imagine yourself in the story. What might have you seen? smelled? felt? heard? tasted?
  3. Picture yourself as one of the characters of the story. How would you have responded to what is happening? What thoughts would have gone through your mind? What emotions would have bubbled up?
  4. Apply the story to your life in the present. What is the story teaching you about Jesus? How is God wanting you to respond?

John Kleinig, in his excellent book, Grace Upon Grace, tells that Luther emphasized two principles in this type of Scripture meditation. One: We are to meditate on the story as the Good News of Christ. Don’t just see the story as a call to obedience. As you meditate on the Gospel story, keep your eyes on Jesus–the giver of grace. Two: Meditate on the story in faith. This is not simply an intellectual exercise; it is a means to grow in trust in our Savior. God’s Word is living and active and works in our hearts to produce faith.

Meditation on Jesus’ Sacrifice

The discipline of meditating on stories of Jesus’ sacrifice can be especially meaningful. Personally, I want to take the time to “watch” Jesus parade through the streets of Jerusalem. I want to imagine Christ stooping to wash my dusty feet. I want to feel the horror when Jesus announces that one of my colleagues is a traitor. I want to be present in the hush of the Garden of Gethsemane.

Although it might be painful, I want to fully appreciate Christ’s sacrifice for me by meditating on the account of the cross. And I want to relive the joy of the empty tomb and hear the angel say, “He is not here. He is risen!”

 Let’s all take time this week to meditate on the accounts leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Through God’s powerful Word, the Holy Spirit will lead us to a deeper appreciation of the Father’s love, the Son’s sacrifice, and the Spirit’s comfort.

God’s Word is more than a novel that takes us to times and places we cannot go. It has life-giving power.

Next step:  Over the next five days spend some time each day meditating on and receiving grace from God’s Word. Here is a list of Scriptures relating to Jesus’ sacrifice that you might want to use.

  • Matthew 21:1-11 The Triumphal Entry
  • John 13:1-11 Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.
  • Matthew 26:36-46 Garden of Gethsemane
  • Matthew 27:32-56 The Crucifixion
  • Matthew 28:1-10 The Resurrection

204196 - Copy (2)If you would like more information about Spiritual Disciplines, check out my Bible study book: Soul Spa: 40 Days of Spiritual Renewal. It is a great way to find rest for your souls. This book can be used for personal or group study. More information here and here.

Spiritual Disciplines: Silence

This post is part of my Spiritual Discipline series where we will explore practices that connect us with Jesus in His Word. If you want to find out more about Spiritual Disciplines you can look here. 

My mother-in-law Shirley was known as a woman with the gift of gab. One thing I always liked about her was that chats with her never have any of those awkward silences.

Once when I was with her, we went to visit an old friend of hers. The mother of the friend was with her and this mother also possessed the ability to make continual conversation. In this woman, Shirley had met her match.

When the visit ended and we got back in the car, Shirley expressed her frustration, “Oh, that woman!” I couldn’t get a word in edgewise!”

I wonder if that is how God feels sometimes. When we come to Him, we often come with our long lists of complaints, our litanies of needs. Our time with Him is often a one-sided conversation.

And when we’re not talking to Him, we fill our ears with music on the radio, chats on the phone, and movies on the big-screen TV.

Maybe God feels like He can’t get a word in edgewise.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 says:

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Silence

In order to hear God speaking to our hearts, we sometimes need to practice the Spiritual Discipline of silence. We live in a noisy world.  It can be hard to hear God’s voice above the din. God may be speaking, but we may not be listening.

In my job as a music teacher at a Lutheran school, I have one rule for my students: When I am talking, they are to be quiet. This rule is necessary for them to hear the instructions for the next activity. When they are talking, they are not listening. If the class follows the rule reasonably well, I give the class a sticker on a chart. Ten stickers equal a reward of a movie day. But somehow, this simple rule is extraordinarily difficult for the students. We are already 24 weeks into the school year and one of the classes has only earned 3 stickers. Go figure.

I guess we all like to talk more than to be still. But that’s the beauty of the discipline of silence.

Silence enables us to listen. 

King David wrote in Psalm 62:1

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

I cannot hear God’s words of grace if I’m always talking. I can’t listen to His gentle words of salvation if I’m not waiting in silence.

Sometimes I need to wait for some time before I hear God’s voice. Even if I’m in His Word, the noise in my head may drown out His voice. The conversation between me and my distracted self doesn’t allow me to listen.

Practicing Silence

So how can we practice silence? How can we hear God’s more clearly? Here are some ways that work for me.

Practice silence before reading God’s Word. Before jumping into your Bible study time, take a few minutes of silence to quiet your mind. Turn David’s words in Psalm 62:1 into a prayer: “God, my soul is waiting in silence for You alone. Enable me to hear Your words of grace and salvation in Scripture. Help me hear Your message to me in Your Holy Word.

Write down the noise in your head. Perhaps you have noticed that when you sit in silence, your thoughts are definitely not quiet. The voices of Doubt and Defeat speak up. Worry and Anxiety seem intent on not letting God get a word in edgewise. You feel like a failure before you even begin.

But you can use these noisy thoughts to your advantage. Sit quietly and pray David’s words, “I wait for God in silence.” As you quiet your mind, have a pen and paper ready. When distracting thoughts pop up, don’t berate yourself. Instead, write down a word or phrase that describes that thought. Quiet your mind again and repeat the process. After ten minutes, look at your list of distracting thoughts. What do they tell you about your life? What do they tell you about your relationship with God? Then take the whole list to God in prayer.

Schedule a personal retreat. This is one of my favorite things to do–but I’ll admit I don’t do it enough. Block out a day–or a morning–for a silent retreat. When I have a personal retreat, I love to go to a park if the weather is nice. But you could look for a retreat center in your area, book a hotel room, or simply find a quiet corner in the library. Bring only your Bible, journal, and willingness to wait in silence. Read a portion of Scripture and then wait for God’s words to you. Journal what you sense God is speaking to you in His Word. You could also use the disciplines of Palms Down, Palms Up Prayer; SACRED Reading; and Examen during this time. An extended time of silence like this refreshes my soul. (For more ideas for a personal spiritual retreat and get my Soul Spa Kit read here.)

Wait in silence. Let God get a word in edgewise. He is longing to comfort your heart and care for your soul. He will faithfully speak words of love and forgiveness as you come to Him. Quiet your heart and hear His words of grace.

Next step: For the next five days, schedule some time for Silence. Read the following Scriptures for inspiration:

  • Psalm 62:5-8
  • Ecclesiastes 3:7
  • Habakkuk 2:20
  • Revelation 8:1-4
  • Luke 5:12-16