David Nehrig
CSUS National Director

Have you ever waited for the last set to catch your final wave and the ocean just goes flat? Anxiety kicks in, and your blood pressure is pumping. It can feel impossible to be calm. But, it’s in those moments that we learn the value of being still. 

Looking toward 2025, as an organization, our goal is to “Be Still” by being intentional about spending time with the Father. 

Jesus demonstrates this as He spent time with the Father. Jesus was so busy. But, we read how time and time again, He prioritized being still with the Father. He would get up very early in the morning to be with Him. 

Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” 

When we are trying to “Be Still” with the Father, life can feel disrupted. 

I saw this with my family when we went on a wakeboarding trip. We woke up super early. It was midsummer so it was light at around 5:05 a.m. When we got to the boat, instead of starting the engine, we swam the boat far away from the houseboat it was docked next to. We were trying to be still so we could avoid waking anyone up. We also knew that being still would give us sheet glass water for the morning run. 

The trip started calmly, but as the day went on, we almost lost the boat because of a monsoon. We had two to three feet swells banging against the houseboat. 

It reminded me of how Jesus was resting on a boat one night with His disciples. They encountered a fierce storm and the disciples were freaking out. He just said, “Be still!” And He calmed the storm. He does that to our storms. 

Mark 4:39 says, “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

In this last season, my life has had a lot of storms. It has felt like one hurricane after another has just tried to sink us. In the midst of it, my family has continued to draw near to the Father, and we have been able to “Be Still.” 

My prayer for every one of us is that we can have special alone time with the Father. May we ‘Be Still.’ And, may we be intentional about spending time with the Father, like Jesus did.