Have you ever attempted to keep a toddler still? When sitting with my three-year-old granddaughter in church, I have this delusion that somehow she could be still. Perhaps one definition of a toddler is “constant motion” yet there are some rare and wonderful moments. When holding her in my arms or reading a book together, she is still. In those moments I feel a quiet and powerful human connection.

I imagine that my Heavenly Father thinks of me as a frenetic toddler as I thrash about in my willful, forgetful, self-absorbed and controlling nature (this list could go on and on). Yet the invitation is there, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) I imagine that my Heavenly Father thinks of me as a frenetic toddler as I thrash about in my willful, forgetful, self-absorbed and controlling nature (this list could go on and on). Yet the invitation is there- “Be still”.

From time to time, I do have the opportunity to slow things down, to quiet my mind and to be still in the Lord. I especially enjoy being in nature and just breathing in His creation. There also is healing and restoration in reading God’s word. When I take the time to just read it, not in preparation or study but just to listen to what God says to me in the moment, then I find His promises to be true: “The Word of the Lord is living and active.”

It is in these moments of stillness and child-like wonder that I recognize I am being held by my Father and while reading His book, I enjoy the relationship He has established by grace in Jesus. It was on one such occasion that I wrote the poem that David Ludwig Jr. put to music. In that wonderful time of meditation I wrote, ”Hush the ghost of past regret, calm the soul of what is yet. In this moment, in this place there is abundance, simple grace.”

As a leader, we are not always called to activity. We are called to be still for others and for our organizations. The first Leadership Skill is being present and available to the people and situations at hand. Mind, Body, and Spirit in the Here and Now.

I pray you will respond to your Father’s invitation and plan some time to be still.

Kurt Bickel
Cornerstone Consulting
Orlando Florida
If you want to hear Carolina Grace go to this link https://youtu.be/I_4dHXJ_HbY