Psalms 46:10 tells us to “Be still, and know that I am God.” A simple task for people back in the day of the psalmist I would assume, but how are the followers of God in today’s world expected to find time to be still? Even with the invention of the train, the automobile, and the airplane we still seem to have no spare time to sit and meditate on all God has done for us.
Did the psalmist have children participating in three different organized sports requiring a total of ten practices a week? I doubt it. I bet he didn’t even have two jobs! Sure it is easy for him to “be still”, he didn’t have to make sure his car was washed and waxed once a week. He didn’t have to attend PTA meetings or volunteer to be the “snack and juice” parent on game days. Why I bet he didn’t even have company picnics and parties to attend or shopping malls that could keep one walking an entire day.
I should be angry with what the psalmist penned, but I can’t be. Even in my busy world, a world far more complicated and chaotic than what the psalmist probably had to contend with, I see the holiness in his writing. I see God’s will forged in this call to “be still”, and I cannot ignore it, run from it, or pretend to not understand it.
We live in a blessed world. Inventions and knowledge have been increased greatly, and this has allowed us to visit and talk with friends and relatives around the globe on a level never before attained. It has also allowed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached in remote places.
Our advanced society, when utilized to advance the Kingdom of God, is a glorious thing. And the simple act of meditating on God’s word and character can help us to understand more about what God would have us do to reach the lost and the hurting. And our busy lives cannot be used as an excuse to ignore what the psalmist has called us to do. All the great thinkers and inventors of our time needed time to concentrate and meditate on their work. And if our work is to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a lost world, then we need to meditate on what an awesome task has been laid upon us.
“How can I be still?” That is the title of my column. The reader deserves an answer. And the answer is how can I not be still when I think about the awesome and eternal power of the Maker of all that has ever been or will ever be? God is not bound by time or technology, but he is the author of both. His knowledge and love transcends the generations without the slightest effort. That alone is enough to demand stillness, and so I shall “be still, and know that God is God.”
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