Be Still

“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalms 46:10

This verse has been a constant reminder from God during my time in this country. I’ve realized how hard it is for me to truly be still—still when I feel like I’m not doing enough, when I’m tempted to complain, or when I dwell too much on the past or the future. Yet, I’ve learned to let God meet me in those moments.

He has met me in the hard. He has met me in the chaos. And He has met me in the stillness. This past week, I’ve experienced a peace and joy that could only come from the Lord. He is my peace and my joy every single day.

I now find myself taking intentional time each day to be still before Him. When else in my life will I have moments like these? Moments to sit and meditate on multiple chapters of His Word in the quiet morning, to spend an hour in an empty church listening to worship and hearing His voice, to intercede for people I love or even for strangers.

I’ve found stillness in ministry—teaching children about the gospel for the first time, working out with my friends, taking a much-needed nap after a long day, or lying in the grass at night beneath the brightest stars I’ve ever seen, praying to the One who created them.

Now, I sit in awe of the One who has given me all this time. A time I once saw as inconvenient, but now cherish deeply. I am so grateful for this gift of stillness.

My prayer for the person who reads this

Jesus, I thank You for whoever is reading this today. Would You reveal to them how they, too, can find stillness in You. Show them the areas in their lives that they don’t need to hold onto—areas You are calling them to surrender to You.

Lord, I ask that You reveal truth to the hearts that are hungry and bring comfort to those that are broken. I thank You, Jesus, that You know us better than anyone else ever could and far beyond what we can understand about ourselves.

I pray that You make this truth even more real to us in this season.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

THANK YOUU

A lot of people reached out to me after my last blog, and I just want to say how thankful I am for every comment, text, and email I’ve received. It means so much that you take time out of your day to check in on me and even partner with me in prayer.

This week has been amazing, and I know that’s no coincidence. So thank you again!

VBS

This week in ministry, we hosted a VBS for all the kids at the church, and it was absolutely amazing! So many kids showed up, which was such a blessing. The theme for the week was trusting God, and each day we focused on a different point with a Bible story, songs, lots of games, and more.

I was in charge of teaching the memory verse each day, Proverbs 3:5-6, and on the last day, I had the opportunity to teach a lesson on the Gospel and how we can share it with others. It was such a sweet moment. Many of the kids shared that their parents don’t go to church or know Jesus, and they were excited to tell them about Him.

I’m praying that these kids go out and make an impact in their communities. Thank You, Jesus, for reminding us that age doesn’t matter when it comes to sharing Your love!

Check out the recap video my teammate made: https://youtu.be/OyAFD3sQQ_U

One last thought 

Today at church, the speaker said something that really stuck with me: “don’t partner with God out of ability but out of availability.” Read that again.

My prayer for myself, my squad, and all of you is that we would fully surrender to God and simply be available. Available to be still, to be used, to be poured into, to pour out, and to embrace whatever He wants to do in and through us.

The Lord doesn’t only use those who leave on mission trips for a year—He has a plan for every single one of us. I pray that we can all step into that plan this week and say “yes” to what He’s calling us to do.

With love,

Ashlyn