Midweek Reflection

What Stillness Is Revealing in Me

This week, I set out to practice stillness so my inner pace could settle and I could hear God more clearly. I thought the challenge would be managing my schedule or reducing noise around me. Instead, God began showing me something deeper: stillness reveals what I anchor myself to.

As I listened to Bishop T. D. Jakes’ message The Theology of Quietness, three words kept echoing in my spirit: power, purpose, and prowess. These are not optional. They are spiritual essentials. When I am rooted in them, I can hold my peace, stay centered, and respond rather than react. But when I disconnect from them, I start to drift into patterns that resemble productivity but feel like internal chaos.

This sermon met me exactly where I am.

What Stood Out to Me

Quietness is not weakness. It is discipline and the knowing when my voice is needed and when silence protects my assignment.

These truths especially stayed with me:

• Power, purpose, and prowess are gifts God already placed in me.
• When I am centered in them, I do not have to defend myself or fill the silence.
• Peace comes from identity, not activity.

Stillness is not passive. It is spiritual positioning.

What This Reveals About My Patterns

Listening to the sermon made something click: often I lose sight of my power, purpose, and prowess because I anchor them to circumstances instead of anchoring them in God.

When life shifts, I interpret the disruption as disorientation. In that moment I start recalibrating based on what changed around me instead of what remains true within me.

Then the familiar cycle begins:

• overthinking
• overanalyzing
• trying to fix the moment
• creating clarity through movement instead of presence

It often feels like I am starting over, even when nothing is truly missing.

What God Is Inviting Me to Practice, Pause, and Release

Practice

• Holding stillness as a discipline
• Returning to center instead of rushing to manage the moment
• Listening for the present-tense Word of God

Pause

• The habit of chasing clarity through overanalysis
• The spiral of “what ifs”
• Interpreting transitions as instability

Release

• The belief that I must consume more information to feel safe
• Using distraction as a coping mechanism
• The pressure to immediately understand what God is doing

Stillness is not the absence of activity. It is the awareness that God is working underneath the surface, even when I feel unsettled.

Real-Life Example: Lindenwood and the Illusion of “More”

When I started working at Lindenwood University, something in me went straight into search mode.

What degree should I get next?
Which program would deepen my expertise?
Are there certification will keep me competitive?

The problem is I was not searching because I needed information. I already have the tools, credentials, and access. It was the discomfort with stillness that made me reach for more.

More learning, doing, consuming and planning.

It was not growth but avoidance.

Instead of settling into the assignment God had already placed in my hands, I looked for a new one. Instead of listening for clarity in the quiet, I looked for clarity in movement.

This week helped me name what was happening:

• If I feel unsure, I try to go learn something.
• When I feel vulnerable, I try to achieve something.
• If I feel a void, I try to consume something.

But nothing was missing. I was simply uncomfortable with stillness.

Why This Matters for My Journey

God is not asking me to do more. He is asking me to root myself in what He already gave me.

Stillness exposes the places where I reach for unnecessary movement. And it gently reminds me:

• I do not need another degree to validate my calling.
• More information to will not make me feel more prepared.
• I do not need to fill silence to feel safe.

What I need is grounding.

This season is calling for understanding, not accumulation. Presence, not performance. Stability, not striving.

Stillness is shaping me. And God is teaching me how to sit long enough for Him to work with what He already placed inside me.

A Prayer for Anyone Who Feels Uncomfortable With Stillness

God, for the one reading this who feels restless in the quiet, remind them that they are not broken. Quiet does not expose their flaws; it reveals their foundation.

If they have been reaching for more, more learning, more movement, and more achievements, meet them with compassion. Show them that stillness is not punishment or emptiness. It is an invitation from You.

Help them release the pressure to fill every moment. Help them pause the instinct to fix everything quickly. Help them trust that Your presence is enough, even when they do not have answers.

Teach them how to breathe again. Teach them how to return to center. Teach them how to rest in the power, purpose, and identity You already placed in them.

Let them feel safe being still. Let them feel held in Your hands. And as they practice quieting the noise, anchor them in the truth that You are Lord, You are working, and they do not have to strive to be secure.

Amen.

If this week spoke to you, you can explore the full set of December reflections by clicking the button below.

I’ve also created a few resources and templates to help you walk through these themes at your own pace — you can access them using the button below.