Be Still And Know...

For reasons I don’t claim to understand fully, I’ve had a tune rolling around in my head all morning.  It’s a Jeremy Camp song, called “Be Still.”  It’s based on 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!”

The first part of this verse tells us to “be still.”  That’s a concept that is hard to grasp sometimes.  In this crazy world, I often don’t know what it means to be still.  I need to “be doing.”  I’m a fixer.  I fix problems.  At work, at home, at church.  It doesn’t really matter if I don’t have the technical skill, because I have the organization skill to get stuff done.  “Being still” drives me nuts.

But now, for the most part, the world is being told to “be still.”  Yes, there is still work to be done.  But as far as running errands, and living our lives, for the time being we must “be still.”

But there are strawberries in the situation… There are opportunities to be had in “being still.”  How many of us have had a real conversation with our spouses and children?  When is the last time we played a game, or watched a movie that made us laugh so hard our sides hurt?  When is the last time we truly read a good book, or… wait for it… the Bible?  When is the last time we truly took some time to “know God?”

The reality is that God gives us the strength to get through difficult times. 

Consider Isaiah 40:31 – “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

He isn’t saying they “might”.  He is saying they “will”.  It is a promise that those of us who are waiting for the Lord, as we are right now, will have our strength renewed.  We will!

During the first Passover, the Hebrews had to wait inside their homes, with the lamb’s blood marking their doorposts, while the angel of death passed over them.  Eventually, their waiting was complete, and the angel of death had passed over, and the Hebrews left Egypt on their way to the Promised Land.  They had to be still and know that He is God!  And He certainly was God!

The second part of Psalm 46:10 reminds us that God will be exalted among the nations, God will be exalted in the earth!”  The earth is still His.  And it will remain so, even while we are waiting.  Waiting out coronavirus.  Waiting out the economy.  Waiting for the Lord. 

So be still… talk, pray, read, play, and find reasons to laugh.  You aren’t alone.  We are all in this together, and God will be exalted. 

Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.

Pastor Bryan

Oh, and PS: the phone lines don’t have be “self-isolated.”  And neither does email.  Reach out and let someone know you care!