The Two Words I Didn’t Want to Hear

Dear family,

I want to share something that God slapped me across the face with this week.

Back a couple of months ago I supported one of my Squadmates by purchasing a Key (Keys for the Journey). It was a specific fundraiser that you ask for a word to be stamped onto a key, that means a lot to you, or you ask for a prophetic key, which means the person who is making the key will just pray and intercede on your behalf and ask God what is a word that He wants this person to be reminded of or start to think about.

I was pumped, I love learning about all the different ways that God communicates to us and shows us His will. I learned that when we first got to Campus that we’d be getting our keys, and I was so nervous. I wanted to know what new and amazing things God was going to share with me.

There are so many things I knew I lack in my own relationship with Christ, and I was sure this key was going to give me a much-needed answer I was hoping for.

I grabbed my tiny bag and slowly took out my key.

There were two words stamped onto the key, two words I was all too comfortable with.

Two words I loved so much already, two words I was all too familiar with.

So much so I had already tattooed them on my right wrist.

Be Still.

My face dropped. Anger and frustration set in. “God, wait, why do you want this to be on my key?”

Let’s take a step back.

At the beginning of 2019, the phrase Be Still came to my mind when I was asking God what was something he wanted me to focus on in the year to come. Little did I know that was the year everything in my life started to crumble, my parents’ marriage spiraled, my future became unbelievably unsure, one of my closest friends and I lost our extremely close friendship.

I lost everything that I actually held onto in my life.

Except for Christ. He never left.

The phrase became one I would say constantly in my prayers, a short phrase that God would remind me to really refocus everything on Him and know that He is God and I am not.

By the end of 2019 I had fully grasped that truth, it was foundational, I was never going to forget it.

I’d truly like to say that is the case. And to this day I thought it was.

I’ve always viewed my life as one giant story. This is a good way to look at life, we are all for sure in amazing stories that God writes alongside us. I love completing chapters, turning the page, seeing what happens next. I tend to continue looking forward to the next thing that God wants me to know, not ever staying and really pouring over what He’s taught me.

I always want to keep walking forward.

The phrase “Abide in Me” has been one that has confused me, and haunted me. It really scares me to think I may not be abiding in Him because there are not many tangible ways I can measure ‘Abide-i-ness’ (if that makes sense.)

I wanted to focus everything within me on learning how to ‘Abide in Him’.

That brings me back to the moment when I got my key.

I read it over, “Be Still.”

And over.

And over.

I wanted the words to change.

I wanted a different answer.

I didn’t get what I really wanted to hear.

One of my teammates came alongside me at that moment and asked me a very hard question.

“What if abiding in Him isn’t achievable? What if it’s more of a lifestyle or heart posture? What if you had to just Be Still?”

As soon as she said that I rolled my eyes so hard. (If you could do such a thing.) There’s no way that was the answer to my question. It couldn’t be. I refused to acknowledge it.  

Yet, here I am writing to you knowing fully in my heart and in my head she was so right.

To abide in Christ, to really accept or act in accordance with the example that Jesus set when He walked the earth.

I think I can do that. I think you can as well. In fact, I will go as far as saying I know we can, because we have the amazing blessing of the Holy Spirit living inside those of us who are sons and daughters of Christ. (That was a very true and fantastic run-on sentence)

So now we are here, but what do we do with what we know now?

Change our patterns and lifestyles to reflect Christ with absolutely everything within us.

Wait. Read that again. 

We MUST change our patterns and lifestyles to reflect Christ with absolutely everything within us.

That is what I want to leave with to consider, pray over, and really just Be Still and meditate on.

I now know that you don’t just level up in this life. You will always be learning, growing, being shaped, and molded into the man or woman of God you ought to be, till the day you die.  

I call on you to really learn and adapt what it looks like to ‘Abide in Him’.

Don’t just shrug this off.

Until we get to speak again,

-Mitchell