Be Still...

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

"Be still, and know that I am God..." This is probably one of the verses that I have failed to live at all in my walk with Christ. Why?

Why can't I be still? Why don't I just "know" God?

I feel the answer is found very simply in this: I fear inactivity. I am afraid of not doing something, not saying something, not being noticed... not being prideful. I am afraid that if I am still, then God wont work, ergo I have not truly trusted Jesus. While I admit that this is probably a very shallow fear, for me it is very evident nonetheless. However, the reason that I have this fear I believe, is this: I have not really come to know my God. I have a great God, one that I am going to spend eternity seeking and coming to know intimately. So to address this fear, let's look at some different versus of scripture.

One that comes to mind is found in Exodus 14:14
"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

In this verse there are two things that are apparent. The first is more obvious. The first is this: "Sit back and let Me (God) work". The second is this: "Don't do anything, don't exert any effort. Don't attempt to work in your power, nor seek to effect the situation... only I can do this". Why would this be so? The reason for this is found also in the bible, however, it is found in the New Testament in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:8-10

8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

The reason that I am to be still is so that NOTHING is done in my strength. It is so that I realize that I am nothing, that there is nothing good in me. In Romans 3:23 is says "For (I) have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" and in Psalm 53:3 it says " (I have) turned away, (I) have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." The reason that I am to be still is because it is all His power and none of mine, there isnt anything good or redeeming in my by nature, for if there was, then I would not be totally dependent on a Savior to save me, for there would be some level of redemption in me. The reason that there is nothing in me, can be found in Romans chapter 6. In Romans 6 I see that while I am in sin, I am a "slave" to it. Notice the terminology. "Slave". What does that impart? To be a slave meant that you had no personal rights, that you had no choice or say, that you were owned by another, that you had no right, even to your own body. Notice that I am considered a slave to sin, that it owns me. Before Jesus Christ redeemed me, I was owned by sin. I fell into it because it had a right to me: to my mind, to my soul, to my heart, to my body... to me. But once I was redeemed, I was freed from it. And it is about this redemption that brings a second point: Who does the redeeming?

Certainly it is not myself, because I don't even have the right to even purchase my own redemption, for I don't own myself or the right to even start earning redemption for myself. No, I am considered a slave and cannot buy my own freedom. That freedom MUST be bought from another. I must sit back and let my master carry out the terms of my ownership. I must "be still" and let God be my deliverer and fight for me. But do I trust Him to fight for me? Do I trust that at the end of the day He really is in control? Let me introduce some scriptures here that shed some light on this. Again worth introducing is Exodus 14:14
"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." I need to trust that the Lord will fight, even if I am standing still. That means that if I am doing nothing, He will still take care of it, He will still fight for me and deliver me. And I can be sure that He will deliver me through His promise found in Philippians 1:6:
"(Be) confident of this, that he who began a good work in (me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I can trust that what He has started, He will finish. It does not say that He will make it better, and get it fixed. No I am, as stated in2 Corinthians 5:17, "...a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" and that with this new creation God will finish what He started. And what is even better is that "all things God works for the good of those who love Him". He is going to use even the evil of my life for His Glory. But only if I am still and let Him work, let Him show His power and display His might to a faithless generation that His name might be exalted above all.

Perhaps the demonstration of the principle of just sitting back and trusting God, of not trusting my own futile efforts, is seen best in Mark 4:35-41. Here is the story:

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Notice the setting and whats in this story:

A storm, huge waves, a boat nearly sunk, Jesus sleeping (whoa!), disciples freaking out and waking Jesus, demonstration of His power, exhortation of His power, wonder about His power.

In this story, I can see many parallels in my life. The first is the storm. People have them, Believer's have them, I have many. For some, the storms are about money, others about power. But the point is this, there is a storm, something that is causing a problem and possibly even a doubt about ones faith. Then there is a boat. What does a boat represent? Shelter, comfort, a "safety zone". It is where we like to hangout. Instead of having faith and stepping out of the boat, I would rather stay safe in the boat (Having faith and stepping out of the boat is another lesson that deserves study). So here I am, sitting in the boat, which is no longer seeming safe to reside in. But notice this: Jesus is not even phased by all of this, infact He is even sleeping, apparently not even aware of the terror and "danger" that everyone else in the boat is in. But why should He be afraid? All authority in Heaven and on Earth is His. The waves can no more touch Him then I can breath without His permission. But despite that knowledge and understanding, I still freak out when life seemingly falls apart. So while it is falling apart, I cry out. I forsake patience and the knowledge that He is walking and going through this with me and I call out for deliverance. Now, while it is okay to cry out for Him to deliver us, sometimes we need to see that He allows a storm for a purpose. So I bug Him until He answers my prayer. He shows and displays His power and ability to control anything and everything and that NOTHING is beyond Him. But, after He displays His power, He confronts me. He asks me why I did not trust Him, even though He was with me the whole time. Why I chose to try and try and try to make something work until exhausted and weary, I demand Him to move. He marvels that I, having known Him for so long, cannot trust that He WILL do what He says that He will. He wonders why I did not let it all fall down so that He would be able to do even greater works of His power. And after that I have received this reproof from Him, I marvel at His power, His majesty... His infiniteness. How that no matter what, all the storms of life, no matter the size, will obey His every command. They seem to know their place and position with the King of Glory better then I do at times! They know that at His word, they are to "be still" for He is God.

So to conclude, when I feel life falling apart and I desperately want to intervene in my own "wisdom" to better my circumstances, I realize that I don't know all that He has planned. Perhaps this "storm" that I am in is really one that is designed and ordained by God, because in the end He controls it all. God is in control of all of the storms and all of the events that occur in my life, and He is also in control of my eternal destiny. so while I don't know where this great plan of His will lead, I do know that it will all be for my good and for His glory. But if I am still and know that He is God, He will reveal Himself and His power in ways never before seen, heard, or thought of before in my life; and THAT is a promise that I believe that He will keep!