Sacrifice or Obedience?

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

I wonder what would happen if we actually obeyed the aforementioned Psalms?

If the Church said to Hell with the clock and "beating the Baptists to the restaurants"?

If we listened to the Spirit's whispers and the cries of our bodies, moving only when prompted and not when outside sources force us?

If God and the heavens are outside of time, why don't we operate the same?

When has God ever rushed?

"Be still, and know..."

Perhaps, God is an ambiguous figure, looming over us in the clouds, because we have not stilled ourselves long enough to fix our eyes to His infinite glory.

While it's an underwhelming illustration at best, allow me to pose the question; When was the last time you slowed down long enough to truly take in the sky?

The longer you stand outside with your head thrown back and your eyes searching the blue vastness, it begins to reveal things you hadn't noticed before.

A flock of pigeons. A lone buzzard. A vapor trail. Clouds of all shapes and sizes.

Truth be told...We are a busy people.

Far too important, with important things to do like going to the DMV or working a job that we despise or grabbing a quick bite of chemicals pressed together to resemble meat that's killing our bodies as much as our jobs are crushing our souls, than to sky gaze.

Assignments and accomplishments and accolades.

Believing the lie that has echoed throughout our generations since the Garden...

"God's not giving you all there is. He's holding out on you. Here, take charge of your life and take part in this...You'll be like Him."

We take it.

We do ALL the things.

And we try desperately to hold it all; the entirety of our lives and the whole world in our child-sized hands.

We were never meant to.

ABBA knew it was all too much.

We are filled with embarrassment and shame. "I keep failing. I can't keep up. It's too heavy."

We continue to hide behind our fig leaves of to-do lists...

"When I catch up...When life slows down...When I get on the other side of this season..."

It never does though.

And if we're honest...We don't want it to.

For then we would stand in front of Him naked.

Oh, but we don't even realize it's inevitable...

We will stand before Him naked in the end.

There will be no fig leaves of to-do lists or awards to cover us.

But here's the thing, He already sees past all of it.

Us getting real before Him isn't for Him...it's for us.

It's so He can take away those heavy, constricting cloaks and clothe us with robes of righteousness.

It's so we are familiar with His voice and can hear Him over the noise of the crowds.

It's so we can practice the beautiful steps to the triumphant first dance when The Groom comes to collect His Bride.

ABBA, forgive us for busying ourselves with collecting sacrifices instead of coming aside with You to rest awhile in obedience.