A Time to Be Still

Psalm 46.1-3;10-11
1 God is our refuge and strength, 
   an ever-present help in trouble. 
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way 
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 
3 though its waters roar and foam 
   and the mountains quake with their surging.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; 
   I will be exalted among the nations, 
   I will be exalted in the earth.”
 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; 
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

There are times in our lives where, the more movement we expend, the more we impede the will of God. While God is a God of action and wishes nothing more than for His children to daily execute on the power of His Holy Spirit, there are times when stillness must intercede in our hearts. The willingness to wait upon the Lord is expressed chiefly by the Psalmist in Psalm 46: “Be still, and know that I am God.” In stillness, the fabled beast among a world full of noise, resounds a satisfying and wholesome acknowledgement that God is on the throne. He ensures us that He “will be exalted among the nations...and the earth.” It is only in stillness, only when our lives our surrendered to the point where our spirit is relying fully upon the Lord’s direction, that the peace of God surpasses our understanding.

Why? Stillness primarily is a twofold bonus of servitude and humbleness. It is servitude because we yield our desires completely into the hands of the Lord. Even Christ prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22.42). If the Son of God in His splendor can submit wholly unto the Father, so can we submit our desires to Him. Humbleness also overflows from stillness. Humbleness is the state with which one accepts the lowliness of his own self and expends his confidence into the hands of someone greater than he. James 4.10 instructs us to “humble [ourselves] before the Lord, and he will lift [us] up.” Humbling ourselves to God--sitting still and listening closely for His direction and will--will cause the Lord to move within us. At His timing, He will instruct you and pour His will and blessings upon you for the good of His kingdom. Yes, only in stillness can He “lift you up.”

Are you sitting still in the times of your life where God says to “rest here for a while?” Our Lord often fled to solitude to pray with the Father to hear His Father’s voice. May we do the same. When our heart grows restless, when our spirit is worn, may we “be still and know that [He] is God.”