Be Still and Know....

There's nothing quite like stopping and being still in amongst busy-ness. Purposefully resting while all else around you continues to move at a rapid pace. Behind my house, along the river, there is a beautiful big tree with a humble wooden bench sitting beneath it's branches. I love this bench. Hundreds of people walk past this bench every day. They're usually in a hurry; with somewhere to go, someone to see or excess fat to burn. When things are particularly busy, I will often walk to the river and lie down on this bench for a little while. People stare at me like I'm mad. Seriously, they walk past with their heads turned, wondering if they should throw me a $5 note or perform CPR or something. The temptation to stare back at them with my eyes crossed and my tongue hanging from my mouth is very great, yet so far I have resisted. There are far too many negative connotations tied to people who lie on benches. During exams about a year ago I walked down to the river to lie on this very bench. An elderly man, probably nearing his seventies, was walking past on the pathway and stopped in his tracks once he caught sight of me. Still standing on the pathway, not daring to come any closer, he called out to me "What are you doing?". I had been enjoying a lovely daydreaming sess and was a little startled by the sudden interruption. I sat up quickly and explained that I hadn't heard what he had said. Still refusing to venture from the path of safety, he called out again "What are you lying down for? Are you knocked-up or something?". Ouch. I explained that I was taking a study break and felt a little tired, and he turned on his heel and marched off, muttering angrily under his breath about how ridiculous it was for a young person to be lying down during the day.

This wasn't a particularly encouraging encounter, but I still love that bench. It is hard and lacks pillows, so there is no risk of me falling asleep, yet it is still incredibly peaceful. Sometimes I feel so overjoyed by all of the wonderful things that God has blessed me with, that the most appropriate response to this seems to be to stop and rest in the knowledge that I am His child. Just to be still and know that He is God. For people who do not share this same joy, that is an odd thing to do. Why would you stop when there is so much to do? So many people to see? So many things to achieve? Yet there is so much value in just stopping, and being still, and praising God that He is good even when life is overwhelmingly busy. For those of us who are students, things are particularly busy at the moment. I suppose the purpose of this blog is to encourage whoever is reading this to take the time to be still. Just stop. Rest. Find peace in the knowledge that we are loved unconditionally. That God is in control. Please know that I say this knowing that I myself do it very poorly. Scheduling in rest feels like an odd thing to do when there is so much work looming over my head. But it is essential. There is nothing more energising than acknowledging that we are living for something far greater than the busy-ness of this world.
On that note.. I'm off to do some last minute revision for today's exam. All the best for those who are drowning in the dark and murky Uni waters at the moment. Remember that it is Christ who sustains us, and whatever we do is for His glory.
Peace out, rock on, yada yada yada... :)

Free Indeed...

Recently a group of CUers have been participating in Alt-R. What is Alt-R, you may ask? Actually, I wonder what happens if you press Alt-R on the computer keyboard.... hmm, just tried it.. apparently it does nothing. I was half expecting my computer to explode or spontaneously break into song or something. ANYWAY.. tangent... Alt-R is a Christian Union initiative which involves a crew of us heading to the Cleveland Detention Centre for a couple of hours every fortnight to play sport with some of the lads. Last week was my first week of Alt-R, and it was a really great experience. My touch footy skills could use a little polishing, but it is such a fun sport. It was so encouraging to see that the boys seemed to enjoy spending time with us as much as we did with them. Even if that was only because our presence provided a break in the monotony, I still think that is a plus. Showing these boys love through our interactions and our willingness to spend time with them was a really positive experience. It was also an awesome reminder that it's God who saves His people, not our ability to clearly articulate the truth or to love unconditionally. How wonderful that God uses us for His purposes! Claire Ferguson had a long chat with one of the guards about some of his beliefs, which was really encouraging and reminded me that even though we are focusing a lot of our time on the lads, our interactions with the staff are also hugely important. I spent about an hour playing soccer with a few of the lads, and really enjoyed being able to talk with them about their lives. I was particularly struck by how willing they were to share their experiences and their hopes and plans for the future with me. They even asked me a few questions about my life, which was really great and I enjoyed sharing with them as well. I came away thinking "They were SUCH good kids!". And in the context of the time I spent with them, they were. They were respectful and polite and responded well to my questions. However, as I was reminded by my very wise boyfriend, many of these boys aren't necessarily 'good kids', and particularly as females entering the centre we shouldn't be naive about this. A few of the boys I was talking with only had a couple of weeks left of remaining in the centre. It was really good to hear about how they plan to spend their time once they've been 'released'. Some of the boys are going to continue with school. One of the boys is going to travel to Mt Isa where his big brother will teach him how to work on a cattle property. But one boy's response in particular has really stuck with me. When I asked him what he planned to do once he left the centre, he threw his head back and exclaimed "Just enjoy being FREE!".

So much of me wanted to take that boy and sit him down and explain to him in no uncertain terms what true freedom is. His excitement about the thought of being free was palpable. Yet the pure joy that accompanies true freedom is so much greater. I'm sure that this particular boy's definition of freedom would differ quite significantly from mine. Worldly freedom differs quite significantly from the freedom that we as Christians live in. Romans 6:18 says

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness".

The passage goes on to say in verse 22 "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life".

Worldly freedom tells us that we are free to live as we please. Free to live for ourselves. Free to follow our desires and our passions. Free to become our own god, and to direct the paths that our lives follow. Yes, it is wonderful to live in a free country where we don't have to answer to the powers that be and can live as we chose without fear of severe reprimand. Yet this is merely a shadow of the freedom that we experience as children of God. We have been SET FREE from our sin. We have been SET FREE to live under God, our Creator and our Father. We have been SET FREE to become more like His Son and to live eternally by His side. We have been released from the deathy grasp of sin and SET FREE to live in righteousness. Note that Paul doesn't say that we "decided to SET OURSELVES FREE because living under the rule of sin was a right bore". Paul says in verse 19 that we are weak in our natural selves. I don't know about you, but so often I am acutely aware of my inability to live in righteousness by my own strength. So often I stray, so often I stumble. Yet even as we were dead in our sin, we were loved by our Father, and made alive by His Son.

Verse 14 says "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace".

Wow. That blows me away. How right it is that we praise our Father!

For those who pray, please pray that we will be able to share this freedom with the boys at Cleveland. This may show through our actions initially, but hopefully opportunities will arise where it is appropriate to speak to the boys about the love and grace that gives our lives purpose, meaning and hope. In the words of a beautiful song that I recently heard, "We're free indeed, we have been set free, Son has set us free".