Be still…

“Be still, and know that I am God.”–Psalm 46:10

This is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible for me. Time after time, my heart is called back to this verse. It has essentially become my life’s creed. Unfortunately, I forget this verse so many times. I remember a couple of summers ago, I was at my friend’s grandma’s lake house and we went to look at the stars. This verse just floated through my mind. Whenever I begin to feel lost and alone, this verse floats in my mind. I’ve written about my experiences with this verse before and I’ve written devotionals for my campers the past couple summers around this verse. Now, I want to share it here. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been needing to do this for a couple weeks now, but I keep putting it off or doing other things instead.

Be still. Other versions are quoted as “be silent”. I think those two words alone hold so much of the power in these verses. First of all, it’s a command. The speaker (who happens to be God as we see in the second part of the verse) isn’t asking us to do this, he is COMMANDING we do this. Now, it seems that if God is to command something, we should probably listen.

Let’s think about this a bit, though. Look at the world around us. Fast cars, fast food, fast lane. We are always on the go. Think about how impatient we are. We can’t stand being in a line unless we’re the next person…and even then we’d rather not have to wait for anything. When ordering or shipping a package, you have the option to send it next day; you have the option to send it in 1-2 days. I understand that sometimes we “need” something next day, but what honestly happened to waiting and being patient. is 3-5 days really that long? With our go, go, go lives, it gets pretty hectic. A great pastor and speaker, Bill Yonker, says this, “We are not human DOings but human BEings.” We are called to spend time and be.

Be silent. Slightly different from be still but still as important and powerful. Works really just as well. God is calling us to take time to listen. In our world, there is always something going on. The tv is on or the radio is on or people are talking. It’s nearly impossible to go someplace and not hear traffic of some kind anymore. But, God is calling us into silence. There is, I think, a very important and obvious reason for this. So often we are praying and praying and praying and yet, we never take the time to listen. It would be like me having a conversation with you:

Hi, how are you? I’m doing really well. What are you doing tomorrow? I think we should do something, don’t you? How about a movie? Want to see this one or this one? What are you doing next week? When do you have to work?

If I were to just never break in there, be the one always talking, how could I ever get an answer from you? I couldn’t. The same goes for God. So often we are pouring our hearts and constantly praying (which is a great thing) but we so often forget to listen (sometimes never even taking the time). How are we supposed to hear God’s answer if we don’t give him time to answer? That requires us to be silent at some point. And that is exactly where we’ll hear God’s answer:

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12 ESV)

God came to Elijah not in the wind, earthquake, or fire but simply a whisper in the silence. You aren’t going to hear that whisper unless you be silent.

Jesus even took time to just be and to be silent. How often does he get up to leave his disciples and the crowd to be by himself. To be with God. To be silent. To be still. To be. God is no hypocrite. After each day of creation, he spent time to enjoy his creation. And on the last day, he rested. We are to be still and be silent. It is a command from God for our sake more than his. Yes, it means spending time with him (which he loves) but it is more for our benefit of rest and answers than anything else. Jesus said that when we pray we are supposed to go to a closet where nobody could hear us. He was talking more about not flaunting to make yourself look good, but we are supposed to get away from the world (music, tv, people, noise) and spend time with God.

Know that I am God. Yet another command. This has its obvious importance, I believe, but there is something about the order of this sentence that I believe is important. If we were to switch these commands, we would be called into stillness/silence simply because he is God. Yet, that isn’t how I think it is read with the order it IS in. We are to take that time and know God. When we are still and silent, we should be with God. We should have communion (not bread and wine…well you can, but hang out) with him. God is constantly calling us to his heart. The scriptures are riddled with his longings for that. Our hearts and riddled with those same longings.

I also think it has something to do with what John said in his first letter, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” God doesn’t want us to simply listen, but to listen to him, to his voice. We are to know that his voice is his and not another. We are to know HE is God, not somebody else. And we will know his voice. The more time we spend with him, the more time we take be still and silent, the better we will know his voice. “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:3-5, ESV).

Take time away from everything and spend it with God. It can be 10 minutes (maybe more) each day. It can be a day off and just spending it with God. That is what the sabbath is meant to be. A time of rest and a time of being with God. That is how to keep it holy. That may be another blog, though.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”