Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

You find yourself caught up in the rush of living so you scarcely remember which day of the week it is.  You jump out of bed in the morning, gulp down a cup of coffee and you’re off to work.  Then you rush home, eat dinner quickly so that you can get to an evening appointment.  And then you crawl into bed, bone weary, so that you’ll be able to get up in the morning, gulp down your coffee and repeat the cycle.

Many of us need to pray as did the preacher of a bygone generation: “Slow me down, Lord!  Slow me down.  Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.  Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reaches of time.  Slow me down, Lord!  Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams.  Help me to know the magic restoring power of sleep and faith in Thee.  Slow me down, Lord!  Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed.  Slow me down, Lord!  Amen.”

God put it this way in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…”  Be still–for only then can you hear God’s voice.  Times of quietness are part of God’s natural laws.  As thread breaks on a sewing machine when the tension is too tight, so we today must ease the tensions of daily living or the tensions will break us.  Your health is a trust from God.  Can it be right to constantly abuse that trust?  God’s natural laws are as binding as His spiritual laws.

God never promised to spare you from difficulty.  Sometimes we ask for grace to lift us above the depressing cares of life, and God sends sorrows; we feel He has not answered our prayers.  We ask for light to see the path ahead, but clouds and darkness seem to be there.  We ask for peace and quiet that we may be calm, and everything around us becomes confusing.  Why?  God allows trials because He knows these things will drive us to Himself.  They will teach us the lesson that when He gives peace, no one can take it from us.

When we are weak, God does not tell us to be STRONG but to be STILL.  For when we are still, then are we become strong.  The prophet Isaiah said, “…in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…” (Isaiah 30:15, KJV).  God does not just say, “Be still,” He goes on to say, “Know that I am God.”

Psychology says, “Be still – have inner serenity.”  But the Bible adds, “Know that I am God.”  God does not say, “Be still and know a better way of life.”  He says, “Be still and know ME – a person who is Life Himself.  When you know Him, you will then learn that His grace is sufficient.  The Bible says, “God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” (Deuteronomy 33:27, KJV).

In the rush of living, the words of the old hymn still speak to each of us: “Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side!  Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide–In every change He faithful will remain.  Be still my soul: thy best, thy heavenly friend. Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”

 

Resource reading: Isaiah 30:15-18