Warning, warning – information overload. Brain will self destruct in . . .
Sometimes I am an information addict and spend way too much time surfing around the internet. I can't blame the internet, though. Before we connected our home to that major highway, I spent hours browsing around my local library, taking home as many books as I could carry. There is just so much out there that seems so important to know. But, in addition to what I've recently learned about adoption, I have also learned some important information about things going on in the church – thanks to some blogger friends.
In light of that, I want to add some clarity to a recent post on being still and resting in God. In no way was I heading in a "contemplative" direction. 
Apparently there is a movement involving something called "Contemplative Prayer" that is using the Psalm I quoted to support their ideas. If someone in your church is speaking about this, or calling it "Listening Prayer" I'll include some links to articles about this movement at the end here.
So what was my point? I just had some thoughts relating what I was experiencing in the parent-child relationship to my relationship with God. Unfortunately my time ran short and I was not able to fully develop those thoughts. But I also feared losing them from my feeble brain, so put down what I could.
I quite literally have difficulty with stillness. Just ask my husband. I fidget, wiggle, scratch, foot tap, chew gum, you name it. It would seem that I couldn't be still to save my life. This translates into my ability to maintain attention on one thing. I am very easily distracted. In the same way I tell B to be still so he can rest, I imagine God giving me a look I often see from my husband that says "Would you just be still for one minute?!" Of course God is not my husband and affords me much more grace than that.
The other part of that verse is ". . .and know that I am God." I spend so much time thinking, obsessing maybe, about things in my life or in the world as if I have to solve them or figure them out by myself. My struggle, then, is to still those worrisome and obsessive thoughts and direct my attention towards God. I need to turn those things over to Him and stop worrying myself over them. I need to know that He is God. I am not.
Being still, for me, involves focusing my attention on the God of scripture, and praying without having my mind wander into the many things I'm concerned about that day in the manner I mentioned above, but rather praying over those things and then letting them go. Really, I'm still learning what it means to be still as the Psalmist spoke of. But I don't think it involves an empty mind and "vain repetitions."
Again, I believe that this stillness is necessary in order to rest. We must know that He is God in order to rest in God. And I strive, as a parent, to live this out before my child (hopefully one day "children"). God is real and my relationship with Him is real and I want B to be able to know that to his very core so that one day he will be able to say the same.
And now for those links I promised:
I am also an information junkie. Thank you for sharing those links, and I look forward to reading them.
Good Post Melissa, I don’t mind at all thay you have put up some of my posts. What is happening is really scary, and I have to sa;y that on a personal note, there has been some wierd teachings at my parents church that really concern me. So that is how I have come accross all this information and I try to pull it all togther at my blog. I do my research by going to the bible, to see if things are so. If they don’t stand up to scripture then….out it goes!
Sorry if this comment is not written well, I have not woken up properly, I am just waiting on my daughter to get ready for school….
Way to go for discerning the truth Melissa. It’s good to stop being busy and spend time in prayer and Bible study, and even just thinking about things of the Lord. Especially when you’ve got little ones. But I’m glad you are aware that the silence and stillness being taught by the contemplative prayer movement is not biblical. Sadly, many sincere Christians who are getting involved in this have no idea that its roots are from Eastern religions. I am so encouraged to read your posts.
M thank you for posting this. I am the same way. I can’t be still to save my life. Several years ago I had major problems with anxiety. The Lord promised 98% of the time I am fine now, but I still get those moments where I have to catch my breath or even the beginning of a full-on panic attack. In those moments, I envision running to His arms and laying my head against His chest. The mere thought of running to my Father God is so comforting to me that I am able to be still instead of jittery.
I still have much time of being over-occupied, though. Thanks again for this post.
—-The Lord promised that He’d deliver me from the constant anxiety if I would just TRUST IN HIM—-