part 4 of the Tattoos Series
Over the last few posts, I have been sharing with you the meaning behind the 4 tattoos that I have as well as my thoughts on tattoos in general. If you missed those posts, you can and check those out on the website.
My 3rd tattoo is not a flashy one either, but it is very important and has a powerful meaning for me. The tattoo is located on my left thumb between my wrist and knuckle. The tattoo is simply the words “be still” in black ink. This may seem to be an unusual place for a tattoo - in fact I was told that when I got it - but I am left handed and this is prime spot for the reminder this tattoo represents.
This tattoo has interesting story. When I decided to get this tattoo I had just come out of a season of life that was hard. My wife of 7 years had decided to go behind my back and was seeing another person. This led to feelings of betrayal, broken trust and put significant strain on our marriage. I had to rely heavily on God and trust Him with what to do next. I felt that divorce was not the answer and I decided to try and reconcile and figure out how to go forward with our marriage. It was at that time I decided to get this tattoo. I wanted to be forever reminded that sometimes there are things that I just need to let God fight for me. But little did I know that this was only the beginning.
Almost a whole year went by and everything was going well, so I thought. But there were some things that began to surface in August of 2017 that made me realize I still was not fully trusting her. I couldn’t trust her. Then a month later, in September, she decided that it was time to leave the relationship and pursue a divorce. In that moment, that was the most severe blow to heart I had ever experienced. Over the next month, she slowly began to leave and move to a different place.
For the next several months, until April of 2018, I spent wrestling with a lot of different emotions and feelings. I spent time mad at myself. I spent time mad at God. I spent time mad at her. I spent time just mad. But then I began to realize something - I was ignoring the meaning of the tattoo that saw every day. I was fighting that I needed to leave behind and let God handle.
You see, the meaning of this tattoo comes from the book of Exodus. In the book of Exodus, we see the rise of Moses and the nation of Israel freed from their slavery in Egypt. But that was not their “be still” moment. The “be still” moment for them came when they were at the Red Sea with nowhere to go and with the Egyptian army coming for them. God told Moses to tell the people these words:
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” - Exodus 14:14 NIV
This is truth behind my “be still” tattoo is the same that God has for Israel: “Be still and let Me fight.” Sometimes I feel that we look at the words God says in the Bible and think that they aren’t for us. We feel like that were meant for the people that God spoke them to. This is not the case. God’s words transcend time and are totally meant for us as well. God was telling Israel to “be still” and He tells us the same thing. We fight so many things sometimes and some of the things we are fighting are burning us out and hurting other areas of our life. It is those things that we just need turn over to God.
Turn some things over to God - let Him fight.
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This post references Exodus 14
For more check out this blog post.... Be Still.... And Let God Fight https://www.secondstageministries.com/post/be-still-and-let-god-fight-part-2
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