“Be Still and Know…”

Posted by Pat Stewart on Feb 17, 2013 in My Blog, Think About This | 2 comments

Sometimes I have a hard time letting God be God.  How ridiculous that is of me!  Who do I think I am?  I mean, I don’t INTEND to be that way, but every now and then, I realize,  it just happens.  

It happens during minute, little everyday moments when I FORGET that God is right there with me as I am explaining to the officer just why I was going 55 in a 35 MPH zone.  Now, I am one of those who has no shame in telling the truth…sometimes, I realize, that I might have fared better if I hadn’t, but I do and the officer usually just looks at me, writes my ticket and advises me to “slow down.”  I don’t really have difficulty in accepting that God didn’t get me out of that scrape without a ticket because I was breaking the law and I realize on down the road, having received that ticket may be just the thing that slows me down and I avoid hurting myself or someone else.  

In bigger, more serious times…even in life-changing times when I struggle with a situation and don’t think to turn to God, that’s when I realize I need to be knocked on the head as a reminder.  But, God chooses a kinder, gentler way of getting my attention through a favorite Bible verse of mine, Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am GOD…”  Really?  I mean we shouldn’t have to be reminded like that but in today’s hectic and fast-paced world, I find that it is just what we DO need.  I carry a little faith stone which has that verse etched on it and I have clung to it so often that I know now it is etched on my heart, mind and soul where it should be.  I recall telling my children when I spotted an owl in the woods, “Shhh…be still and look up.” 

Someone said to me not long ago that they didn’t think the Bible was written for people today.  Au contraire, mon frere!  The scriptures are totally timeless and there are some like this one in Psalms that I think are possibly even more needed by us today than centuries back.  

Sometimes there is a fine line between a good thing becoming a bad thing.  Consider advances in communication technology.  I am an aficionada of tech advances in communications; however I realize that the use of them must be properly managed in order to “protect” ourselves from overload, invasion of privacy, and loss of quiet time for relaxation, meditation and our spiritual connection with our Creator.  Children today are growing up in this super-charged techno world and too much of a good thing can be harmful so we must guide their use carefully.

I was reading an article from Jason Jackson with Christian Courier where he said “It is ‘God’s past‘ that provides calm for ‘our future.‘ Know that he is God! Know it, not merely intellectually, but practically, spiritually, and emotionally. He is your God. He is the ruler of kingdoms of this earth and the all-powerful Creator of the Universe.”

I like that.

When the large meteor hit Russia injuring over 1,000 people the other day, I bet I am not the only person who thought about what if it had been even bigger and hit here.  When something like that happens, it is even more important to us to know that God is God.  This world will, at some point, come to an end, but life does not end.  God is infinite and as Jackson says, “It is God’s past that provides calm for our future.”

May the peace that being still and knowing that God is God be yours today and always.