Article June 21, 1999 Issue

WHEN TO BE STILL, WHEN TO GET MOVING

Barbara Beth Whitewater

Not long ago, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a sharp pain above my ankle. It came to me to lie very still and pray. As I listened for inspiration, I realized that there is no pain in God, divine Love, so there could be no pain in God's child, His image. The discomfort faded away, and I fell back to sleep.

The next morning, I felt very ill and was tempted to stay in bed. Then I remembered that I had a lot scheduled for the day, and I did not want to miss any of it. So this time, I felt I just needed to get up, knowing that God, good, directs and sustains all right activity. As I did this, I declared out loud that I was not going to take this lying down; if I were going to collapse with illness, it would have to be from an upright position! This made me laugh, and the symptoms of illness vanished at once and did not return.

Later on, in thinking about these two incidents, I concluded that if we are earnestly listening to God, we will know when the Spirit moves us, and when it would have us be still.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

your decisions

Cultivating deeper relationships