Be Still

Be still… What a concept in today’s environment of information attacking us all the time. Even while I write this my phone keeps going off, I have emails coming in and people around me that want to talk. We are surrounded by distractions almost every moment of every day. It is hard to carry on a conversation with somebody without one of you being distracted by something. With everything today coming in short bits of information we are loosing the ability to sit and focus on something in depth. Also with the high speed in which we can access information we are losing the ability to wait for anything.  If we want something we can order it, download it, buy it, sync it, or search it, and have it delivered right now and there is no waiting involved. Sure this transition to faster and faster consumer goods and information may make our life easier, but it can have serious consequences when we have that mentality in our Christian walk.  The Christian life is not about instant fixes on areas that we are lacking, but rather a lifetime of consistently seeking after the heart of God and drawing near to Him. Drawing close to God requires more than tweet sized bites of scripture and a quick prayer before we eat. It requires a heart that yearns for Christ.

I believe few have understood what it means to be in constant community with the Father as well as David did.  The psalms are full of his yearning and pleading with God to be his guide and deliverer through life, because He understood with out Him his life is not worth living.  He writes in Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” We are so used to not having to wait on anything that this can almost come across as a strange concept. Moses told the Israelites in Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” My first instinct in the situation would be to try and do something on my own power. My life is in danger and you are telling me to just wait and be vulnerable to whatever may come? The Egyptians who enslaved them for so many years were chasing after them and the Lord’s command to the Israelites was to be still and watch as He fought for them.

The same God who parted the red sea, who protected Paul from the venomous snake, who delivered David from Saul, who hid Elijah away from the prophets of Baal, this God is the same source of strength and deliverance for us today when we trust in Him. “Be still and know that I am God,” He commands us. Be still and know that He is the heavenly Father who loves to bless His children. Be still and know that His love is relentless and unchanging. Be still and know that He takes our feeble efforts and uses them to advance His kingdom. Be still and know that He heals the broken hearted. Be still and know the He gives strength to the weak and courage to the faint of heart. Be still and know that His grace is enough. Be still because He is worthy to receive honor and glory forever and ever. This is the God that we serve and who desires us trust Him so much that we stop trying to do things in our own power and in our own way and rely on his timing and his perfect plan.

I pray that in our busy lives that are filled with distractions we would come before our Savior and be still because He is worthy.

“Lord, I want to yearn for You

I want to burn with passion

Over You

And only You”

- Shane and Shane