Thursday, July 24, 2008
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Learning to be Still
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
With so much noise around and sometimes even inside of ourselves, this command of Scripture seems like a foreign language that I just can't translate. Be still? Is that even possible? It feels like maybe the seed has been sown, but there is just so much else growing in my field right now — the weeds of day-to-day living in this world, financial concerns, and a million other things — that even good seed would have trouble really growing (see Matthew 13:1-23). How are we to find this quiet place? Even for a few brief moments? A place of peace, and contentment and rest, where we can grow to know God in a more intimate way. Good soil that yields a bountiful harvest.
We know intuitively that it is important but may often despair of really entering that realm. At other times, I find that I go so far as to avoid it or even fight against it. I don't want to be quiet. Maybe I am afraid of what I will hear. And so I just keep on going and never stop. Deep down we all know that the Lord will speak when and if his servant is listening. And sometimes, if we stop just long enough, the Spirit rises up in us and says, "Press in. It is so worth it. To know God. To really know him. It is what you have wanted all of your life." A still, small voice in the midst of the noise. To be still.
The children of Israel got to learn this lesson in a very dramatic way. They had just been rescued from Egypt after 430 years of slavery. God had sent Moses and Aaron and demonstrated his power to the Pharaoh through the 10 plagues. Eventually, the Pharaoh had had enough and told them to leave. And so they marched out with Moses at the head, God leading them through a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. And God led them right into a trap, down a dead end road with no way out! In the meantime, the Pharaoh changed his mind and sent out his entire army to re-enslave this nation. The Red Sea is on one side. Pharaoh's army is on the other. They are not happy and they are closing fast. What did God say through Moses to these troubled people? "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" (Exodus 14:14). I don't know about you, but being still at a time like this wouldn't have been my first or even my twentieth thought! Fortunately, in this instance, they did what they were supposed to, God came through and performed a mighty miracle, and they walked through the sea on dry land, and the Egyptians drowned when they tried to follow. God made a way when there was no way!
And so, I am forced to ask: what have I missed by refusing to be still when I was told to? What have I missed by trying to always engineer my own way out? Whenever I do those things, I miss an opportunity to know God better. I miss a chance to see God work a miracle that would benefit me and probably others as well. I miss out on the work that God could do in me and possibly through me if I were only still. That's sure a lot to miss out on by refusing to do a simple thing!
So God, I pray today, take me and take us to that place of being still. Quiet all around and in us. Silence all the noisy demons. Make life turn down the volume even if only for a while. I will do whatever it takes to be still. And here in the stillness, you have the freedom to be God in my life. I come to really know you. You are free to work in me and through me. Miracles are possible. Everything is possible. And it all started with me and you being still.
"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is you salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength' " (Isaiah 30:15).
Do you have a desire for your life to be all that it was created to be? Take some time. Each day. Turn everything else off. Tune in to God. Be still. He will meet you there. And you will never be the same. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
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