Confession: My mind is always going. From pretty much the time I wake up, to when my head hits the pillow at night. I don't fall asleep until my body is literally like, "Please stop. We're tired". I don't know when this started. I just have a micromanagement mindset during most hours of the day. This isn't always a bad thing. I feel like my life is organized chaos, and I usually like it that way.

But as my mom always says, "When you pick up a stick, you get both ends of it". That means that with a good trait, there's often a negative side that comes with it. Recently, God has been challenging me in this area of my life. Psalm 46:10, a more well-known Bible verse says, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The Message version translates this to say, "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything."

It's a little easier to "be still" when our backs are against the wall. When I've exhausted all my options and I wave my flag of surrender to God's plans instead of my own, I find it comforting to "be still". But when I have events on my schedule, when it's wedding season, when my agenda is on the forefront of my mind, I really struggle to step out of the traffic. I like being in the middle of the party. I like having things to do and people to see. God has showing me that, while He made me with a great capacity of energy, I have to learn to sit in silence.

To me, sitting in silence is letting go, bit by bit. It's having the courage to turn off your thoughts of your own agenda and be mindful of the present moment.

Busyness can quickly become our enemy when we use it as a distraction from life's rawest moments. I'm learning that, whether or not I acknowledge it, life is happening around my task list. I can choose to live with my face in my planner and a restless mind, but I'm missing out on what's in front of me.

And if you're anything like me, you know that busyness can mask a ton of emotions. I'll be the first to say, I've been very guilty of using my schedule to divert my mind from reflecting on unpleasant feelings. This is a reminder to you and me: events will pass, days will come and go, but unresolved issues in your heart and mind will fester until they are dealt with.

In what area of your life do you need to sit in silence? Have you been allowing a busy mind to keep you from being present in your emotions? Start small. Take 10-20 to rest. Give the stillness a chance to speak to you, instead of filling every moment.