In Viola Davis’ book Finding Me, I came across this quote:
“I’d been taught how to hide and fight. I hadn’t been taught how to love and be still.” Viola Davis
These words resonated with me, but I wasn’t sure why. Have you ever had an experience like that? I have discovered that God can use books, movies, songs, or whatever means He chooses to speak to His children. I find it best to take notes, file the words away, and allow Him to bring them to mind in His timing.
Tonight was the night the words came to mind. Hide and fight. Love and be still. The phrase ‘hide and fight’ made me think of hiding God’s word in our hearts and passionately fighting spiritual battles from the safety of a prayer closet. Yet, love and be still is the one I feel called to contemplate.
There are times with our adult children and their spouses when all I can do is love them, be still, and wait for them to work through whatever they face. If I intervene too soon, it may calm my anxiety, but it could rob them of the growth and wisdom that come with life’s experiences.
Hide and fight. Love and be still.
Our son turned 35 in May. I asked him how it felt to be 35, and he turned the question around on me. How did it feel to be the mother of a 35-year-old? When your ‘baby’ is 35, it makes you take a step back. It causes you to sit and be still for a while. Where did the time go? He’s an incredible man, husband, and father. But there are days when I look back fondly and remember him crawling towards a wave as the tide came in. I learned how fast I could run back then! Scooping him up and whisking him away from the shoreline was a regular occurrence.
We had a beach day with his family during our recent trip to Australia. They were the parents chasing down kids while my husband and I watched. We watched with love. We sat still, taking it all in. Hide and fight. Love and be still. There is a time to hide and fight for those we love, and there’s also a time to love and be still. May God grant us the wisdom to trust and lean on His understanding for what time it is.
*For those of you who prayer walk, ask God what time it is, lean in, listen and take in His words.