In January, in the midst of frost and snow, I knew that my word of the year was actually two words: be still. My friends at Sunshine Ink hand lettered the prettiest artwork for me, and it’s framed hanging on a wall I see every day.

Now that we’re now well through summer 2017, I’m painfully aware that being still can be my biggest challenge. Our life is good, and full and joyful, but even as we enjoy the sweetness of summer, there are mountains for our family to climb. Waters we need parted because they’re too deep for us to swim through.

That’s life, right? Taking the sweet with the salty and the sour and the savoury.

Last week, I actually listened to a song I’ve heard on the radio for the past 7 months. Sometimes I’m slow, friend. (And to be fair, mentally tuning out in the mess of my minivan can be a saving grace.) As I really savoured the words of “Be Still” by Hillary Scott + the Scott Family, I wondered how the songwriter knew my life.

How could they know, that although I love Jesus deeply, my tendency is to strap on a backpack of resources and attempt to climb every mountain, even if might kill me? To sometimes give in to fear and forget to trust Him – striving and pushing through, instead of waiting for Jesus to calm the storm. To trust my strength rather than His. To act as though what I can see with my eyes is all that there is.

Sometimes we’re absolutely called to push through, but for those of us who are activators and doers, taking responsibility and making things happen is how we often unconsciously operate. Laziness and lack of motivation is not my struggle. For others it will be. My challenge is to silence my demanding and impatient mind, listening instead to the call to be still and let Him fight for me.

Recently, in my One Year Bible readings, I discovered a new name for God. One that I’d not seen before, even as I have regularly read the Scriptures over the past two decades. Sometimes it’s a grace just to be given eyes to see what is right in front of us. In the middle of 1 Chronicles 1, David’s enemies heard that this shepherd had been anointed King. In his new position of authority, King David – this least-likely candidate for kingship, a stumbling, faithful, failing, beloved man chosen by God – found strong opposition. God showed Himself mighty against these enemies though, and David gave Him a new name: “the Lord who bursts through.”

I see myself there. This is the God I need right now. The Lord who bursts through. I hear Him speaking to my ever-busy heart to stand still so that He can burst through. Not trickle through. Not push me along. But burst through.

The Lord who bursts through. So refreshing. So generous. So overwhelming. So unexpected and delightful. A burst of laughter. A burst of water from a garden hose on a hot day. A burst of flavour. I picture a dam bursting – starting with just a leaking trickle from weakening mortar between two bricks – and then gushing through, changing everything.

I need this God.

The Lord who bursts through, our faithful God, He is the One who refreshes our souls, friend. And He is our God who is moving mountains. Doing things that we cannot even see. Working miracles.

And all we need to do to see Him burst through? Listen to His voice, and be still, allowing Him to surprise us with delight and refresh our souls. Oh, how He loves us.

If you liked this, you might enjoy On Finding Your Happy Place.