"Be Still, and know that I am God"

Those of you who know me, know that my life is a little bit chaotic. Most, if not all of you, have chaotic lives. Life in general is chaotic. All these things are happening in the world. There is good craziness and there is turmoil.

Something that’s been on my heart lately has been, Psalm 46:10 - “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Silly me, I try to argue with God and give excuses as to why I’m not being still.

But God, my life is crazy.

Be still, and know that I am God.

But God, I don’t have time.

Be still, and know that I am God.

But God, you know I can’t be still and that I have the attention span of a goldfish (3 seconds, by the way).

Be still, and know that I am God.

This is a daily struggle for me.

 

I looked up other “still” verses.

“Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.” – Psalm 4:4

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” – Mark 4:39

“You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you…” – 2 Chronicles 20:17a

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” – Psalm 37:7a

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” – Exodus 14:14

 

Why should we be still?

 

 Blessings come to us when we are still.

It opens the communication between us and Jesus. It makes what we have a relationship, and not just a one way control freak session of why God needs to do things the way we think He should.

My friend Mary is a personal assistant to a motivational speaker. She stops her work at noon and sets an alarm on her phone for 15-20 minutes later. During that time, she just sits there and reflects, prays, and meditates. She told me that God gives her some of the best ideas during that time, because she is taking time out of her day to focus on Him.

I work at a nursing home in Philly and I have an hour drive to and from work to where I live in Jersey. I’m not very good at sitting down and reading my Bible. But I decided that I was going to spend the morning drive cranking up my funky gospel music station and worship – not even just singing, since I’m not a morning person, but just soaking it in. I want my day to have a wonderful start being focused on God.

Being still helps us feel more connected to God internally. Externally, it affects how we react to the constant chaos around us.

On Thursday, I dealt with some pretty difficult patients. When someone is screaming curses at me down the hall, my first instinct is not to stay calm. It’s to punch someone and yell back at them. Other staff members told me, “You just need to give it back to her. She’s just an unhappy, hateful person.” Yes, yes she is. She has no family that visits her, she is in constant pain, and she just enjoys spreading her misery. Instead of giving it back to her, I ignored it and continued to talk calmly.

Another patient just randomly flipped out on me. I peacefully talked to her and calmed her down.

My boss came up to me later and said, “I am just amazed how you so calmly handled those patients today. They are not easy patients, and you were so calm and neutral.” Another staff member who I had never talked to told me the other day, “I really like you. You are just so pleasant.” People can’t name what it is about us, but they notice it.

 

How to be still?

Dig into the word of God.

Take time to be silent and listen.
Worship.
Soak in His presence.
Spend time outside, thinking and praying.

 

St. Patrick said:

“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”

Habits start young. I don’t want to be the elderly (or young) person spitting poison on others. I want to be the person who is so calm inside, that it spread to the people and the environment around me. I am not saying these things to build myself up. But I am telling you these things to say that if we don’t take time out of our days to focus on Him and to be still in Him, how can we express Him in our lives, and ultimately how will we affect others.

My challenge to you this week is to take time to be still and focus on Jesus. Even for 15 minutes a day. The change that it makes to your day, especially if you spend it in the morning, is amazing. You see things in a total God-perspective way, and that comes back to bless us, and other people, more than spending that 15 minutes doing anything else – working, browsing facebook, sleeping.