Hold Still
I've always found the patient rooms in the doctor's office to be a little unsettling. The harsh, bright white lights that beam down from the ceiling. Those sheets of staunch, white paper laced over the patient's chair. The endless parade of brochures along the walls on conditions from diabetes to the flu. It feels like straight up solitary confinement. But most of all, I always dread that red box mounted on the wall. You know, the one with the biohazard symbol on it; full of used syringes.
My mind began to drift as I stared at that wall; thinking about what each of those discarded syringes could have been used for. In mid thought, I jumped abruptly at the sound of a knock on my door. "Can I come in?", He requested. I took a deep breath before letting out a reluctant "yeah". He opened the door and entered. His presence was bright. His smile warmed up everything around me. Sensing my nervousness, He looked at me and said, "There's nothing to fear. This will be over soon." I forced a half-formed smile in response. Naturally, I have always been a little uptight - but knowing I was about to be injected made me stiff as a board.
"Relax your arm", He instructed. I took a deep breath while attempting to loosen my muscles. At the slight feeling of the syringe approaching my prepped and sanitized skin, I squirmed around… maneuvering my posture in search for a more comfortable position. He looked at me directly in my eyes and said, "Hold Still.”Attempting again once more, I took a deep breath and submitted to His instructions. The prick was painful, but He was present; engaging with me the whole time. I held on to His Word: "This will be over soon."
That word "soon" must have been relative. Surely we had different definitions of it. I watched a minute pass by. That minute turned into an hour. An hour into a day. Then a week. Months. All of 2020. And into 2021. This wasn't just a regular shot, and it certainly wasn't just a regular doctor. This Doctor knows everything about me. After all, He made me with His own hands. And after coming to Him for my routine check-up, He decided that it was time to inject more of Himself into me. His instruction to "hold still" was crucial. If I moved to the right or left, I'd just end up hurting myself. But by submitting to His procedure, the fruits of His Spirit would begin to flow into my veins. His action-driven love. His chaos-proof peace. His indestructible long-suffering. Without submitting to His process, I'd leave the patient room prematurely; rushing on to the next season unequipped, unprepared and unprotected.
In her study titled “Elijah: Faith & Fire”, Priscilla Shirer reminds us that “we can either resist or surrender to divine disruptions, both in attitude and in action. The Lord leaves us those options. We can either refuse to listen, doubt His sovereignty, fester with bitterness, and miss learning the lessons He wants to teach us in this new location - OR - we can stay there, lean in, and directly engage this place where He’s taken us, despite our discomfort, submitting ourselves to the fire in which we will be refined.”
The choice was mine. It always is. He knocked. I let Him in. I had no idea what I was signing myself up for. And quite frankly, that was for my benefit. I've found that the Lord gives us daily bread for a reason; it's all we can handle in the moment. If He showed us the full trajectory of our lives in advance, one of two things would happen:
We'd march on ahead of Him, vainly and poorly attempting to execute the plan on our own.
We'd be too scared to take another step forward.
At various points of my life, I’ve been on both ends of that spectrum. It's exactly why God has only given me a glimpse of His plan: the piece of it that is happening right now. Contrary to what any of us are tempted to believe, the most important season of your life, is the one happening right now. Without fully immersing ourselves in it, we will rob ourselves of the lessons, growth and refining necessary to help us thrive in the next one.
Romans 13:11-12 says:
This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Romans 13:11-12
Let’s unpack this verse together:
“This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
That word for time in its original Greek meaning is Kairos. It refers to a right, critical, or opportune moment. If you’re longing for the next best thing in your life, it’s easy to feel like your time in this season should be up. As attractive as the next season may look, this one is your opportune moment. This season is your Kairos. He will use every challenge to make you a champion. Deuteronomy 8:16 says that God humbles and tests us to do us good end the end. This season is important, and it is intended to do you good in the end.
“The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.”
In my humble opinion, this is Paul’s greatest exhortation of the chapter. We aren’t in this season without a promise to enter the next one. The night is almost gone.
“So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.”
Here, Paul uses the analogy of getting dressed to illustrate how we should approach each day. Daily, we must shed whatever makes traveling through this season heavy. For me personally, I have been constantly shedding what Jude refers to as “grumbling and complaining” in Jude 16-18. Comparison, ungratefulness and complaining weigh me down and make my heart heavy. Gratitude makes my heart light.
The armor of light is related to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When we put on His character, our load becomes easier to carry. It’s His promise to us in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
All of these promises hinge on our ability to do one thing: Hold Still.
As the Lord produces more of Himself in you…
As He injects the fruits of His Spirit into yours…
As He prepares you to thrive exceedingly, abundantly above all you could ask or think…
Remember to Hold Still. It will be over soon.
