“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalm 46:10
How well God knows us! How well He knows me…
He is completely aware of the fact that we need a deliberate instruction to “be still”.
We fill our time, plan our day, and try to be ultra-organized, until there is barely a moment to pause. Even the unclaimed hours are taken by mindless activity, because we are too exhausted to even think. On the rare occasions when we actually do have spare time, we manage to find a thousand distractions, pushing God to the “left-over” portion, if we remember at all.
So why do we even need to “be still”?
The answer is right there, “…and know that I am God”.
Today, we may need to know that God is in control RIGHT NOW, or that He is going to provide for us. We may need to know that He will see us through this sickness, or give us the strength we so desperately desire to pull us out of the pit. We may need to know the reassurance that God has a plan for us, or that He truly loves us.
We must be still to hear the whisper of God, or watch the miracle He is weaving right before our eyes.
Unless we are still, we might just miss it. We might just miss out.
The Message puts it like this:
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God”
The Lord wants us to love Him, to look at Him, to make time for Him.
Our tendency is to forget how sovereign God really is, how He’s right here with us every step of the way. We get distracted and busy- even with good things and the best intentions, until we don’t even know how to be still anymore.
That’s why it’s written in black and white, in our very own love-letter from the One who knows us the best.
The rest of this verse says that God will be exalted among the nations and in the earth- that will happen regardless of our agenda. But how precious it is for us to have the opportunity to “be still and know” this Living God.
When we make the effort, take the time.
And PAUSE.
