Be Still and Know

Psalm 46:10 – “ Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

We live in a fast-paced, hectic world.  We want to drive faster cars – we want faster food – we want everything in a hurry.  Just a few short years ago, we were satisfied to move a bit slower.  When the internet came along, we settled for slow dial-up connections, now we want instant connections.  We want instant coffee – instant potatoes – instant profits – instant credit – instant education – instant – instant – instant.  In our rat-race lives, we push God out or try to encapsulate Him into a fifteen-minute sermonette on Sunday morning.  Then we get back to our rat-race.

Yet, in this fast-paced, go-go, get ‘em existence we call life, God tells us to slow down every now and then and let Him work in our lives.  “Be still, and know that I am God,” He says.  We need to pause and reflect on His goodness – we need to wait on Him instead of rushing ahead and plunging headlong into things.  Think about it – we have a gracious Father that desires to be involved in our lives, to work for us through problems, to give us His mercy and grace, to give us strength for this present age.  Yet we don’t be still long enough to let Him work.  Just think of all we miss by not waiting on Him.

If we will wait on Him, He provides deliverance from our problems.  Look what He did for Israel after they came out of Egypt.  Moses told them, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord (Ex. 14:13).”  They had just fled Egypt before the face of Pharaoh, and now Pharaoh’s armies were pursuing them.  They were backed up against the Red Sea, with no place to go.  They waited on God and He provided a way of escape, not around their problem, but through their problem.  He’ll do the same for each of us.  He knows what’s ahead.  He knows what’s on the other side of the problem.  He didn’t provide the three Hebrew boys a way to avoid the fiery furnace – He provided them a way through the furnace.

If we will wait on Him, He provides blessings in this present world.  Isaiah tells us in 30:18, “Blessed are all they that wait for Him.”  Earlier in the same verse, he tells us that God wants to be gracious to us and have mercy on us – that means He wants to impart grace to us – and wants to impart mercy on us.  My, oh my!  Grace and mercy – mercy and grace.  Two blessings that we would not want to live without.  In his epistles, Paul wishes grace and mercy and peace over and over to the readers.  He tells us in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” 

If we will wait on Him, He provides strength for everyday life.  Isaiah again promises “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (Isa 40:31).”  He continues by telling us we will “mount up with wings of eagles . . . run, and not be weary . . . walk, and not faint.”  Now, this is the kind of strength that can get us through our busy, hectic days.  We just need to be sure and give Him a few moments of “still” each day.

Quote – “Every true Christian life needs its daily ‘silent times,’ when all shall be still, when the busy activity of other hours shall cease, and when the heart, in holy hush, shall commune with God. One of the greatest needs in Christian life in these days is more devotion. Ours is not an age of prayer so much as an age of work. The tendency is to action rather than to worship to busy toil rather than to quiet sitting at the Saviour's feet to commune with him.” – Wilbur J. Chapan, in “Present Day Parables”

"Lord, Help us in this hectic day of 'instant' everything - this day of speed and hurry - this day of impatience - to just slow down and let you speak to us.  Help us to hear your still, small voice.  Amen."