Be Still

“Be Still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10

When all the chaos of this life seems to pile up on us, God asks us to simply be still. He doesn't require one more thing to be put on our plates or for us to be stretched any more thin than we already are. His only request is that we be still and in our moment of stillness, that we know that He is God.

What does being still look like?

1. Stop all that we are doing and focus on the Lord. Know that He IS God.
2. Remember that the wind and the waves are subject to His voice. They have no choice but to obey Him when He speaks.
3. Quiet our mind. Do not let that inner voice run away with those 5 little words that hijack our faith.
4. Wait on the Lord to speak.

It takes work to be still. This is not something that comes automatically. We must be willing to discipline ourselves to stop, remember, quiet our mind and then wait. Unfortunately, getting one out of the four isn’t going to cut it. If we are willing to stop, but we are not willing to quiet our minds, than those 5 little hijacking words will surely work their way into our time of stopping and sabotage any efforts that we may have put into the process of being still before the Lord. It truly believe it takes all four components in order to accomplish the art of being still.

Stop

There are times when we physically need to stop whatever we are doing just so we can focus our hearts and minds on the Lord. There will be other times when the stopping is not so literal in nature, but I think the majority of the time God desires for us to put away the distractions that have overtaken our lives and concentrate on Him. We can even go to the extreme of excusing ourselves from these distractions and finding a place of solitude. In scripture, there are many times where we see Jesus stop, withdraw from the activities He was doing, and get Himself to a place of solitude all so He could focus His attentions towards His Heavenly Father. Jesus has set such a beautiful example of what it should look like to simply stop.

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
Luke 6:12

“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,”Matthew 14:23

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

Remember

We must never forget that the storms of this life are subject to the name of Jesus Christ. Our winds and waves know the voice of Christ, they have no other choice, they must submit to His authority. When Christ speaks, they WILL obey. Are we allowing the Lord to speak to our wind and our waves, or are we too busy focusing on the storm that God’s voice is being drowned out? Are we focusing on the Lord, or on those 90 mile an hour winds that are pounding against us? Are we looking to the Lord for our peace that passes all understand that will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7), or are we looking at the trials and tribulations at our doorstep? As long as our attentions are on the storm we can not possibly expect God to speak to the wind and the waves. God can not calm the storms of life without our eyes being steadfast upon His face. God desires our attentions and our hearts. If our hearts are focusing on everything except Him, then all we have done was to tie His hands behind His back and we have kept Him from moving on our behalf.

How many times did the Israelite children forget what God had done for them when He delivered them from the bondages of slavery. How quickly did they forget the miracles that He performed and the supernatural ways God had provided for them? This forgetfulness is not just contained to the Hebrew children wandering around in the desert for 40 years. We as human beings can be such a forgetful lot. How many times has God done the impossible in our lives only for us to turn around in the face of the next major trial and forget how He delivered us from our last valley? This small feat of remembering can sometimes prove itself to be quite the challenge. Remember, God is the God of the wind and the waves in your life. The storms of this life fall under His authority and when He speaks they obey!

Quiet the mind

Honestly, I find this to be the hardest part of being still. My mind has a tendency to race a million miles an hour with every degree of worry known to mankind. Quieting my mind is about impossible to do on my own. This is when I go to the Lord and cast my cares upon Him.This is when I try with all I have to lay down my mind at the feet of Christ, and oh man, does this take work! This is no simple task. My mind likes to wage war on me like nothing else does. How about you? Do you struggle with this area of a racing mind? Why would this quieting of the mind be such an important part of being still? It simply gets our eyes and ears off ourselves and our circumstances and on to the one who is in control of it all. That is the key reason behind quieting the mind.

Wait

The Lord longs to speak to His children, the only problem is this, how often do we truly quiet ourselves before the Lord to listen? If it’s not our racing minds, then perhaps it is our endless chatter that drowns out the voice of the Lord. If we are the ones doing all of the speaking can we really expect God to interrupt us so he can have His say? We serve a gentle God. More often than not He will wait until we are finished speaking before He takes His turn. How often do we really give Him a chance to speak? And furthermore, how long are we willing to wait? Do we sit for two minutes, and expect that God will work on microwave time or are we willing to be patient and wait as long as it takes for God to speak? We do not serve a God who functions like a microwave. He is not a fast food kind of God. We can not give Him our order and expect that in five minutes we are going to have the answer that we want. As I have said before, God holds time in His hands. He is not bound by our time limits and our impatience. He will speak when our hearts are ready to receive what He has for us. That often times does not line up with when we think we are ready. The Lord is never late. He is always on time.

Call to Action

Being still can seem so challenging at times, but it is concept that once learned can save us from so many unnecessary bumps and bruises along this kingdom journey. I want to encourage you this week to make an conscious effort to be still before the Lord. See what happens when you stop, remember, quiet your mind and wait upon Him. The Lord just might bring your heart unspeakable encouragement, peace and joy.

Lord, thank you that when we find ourselves in the midst of life’s storms that you have given us this very simple instruction to be still and know that you are God. Thank you that you are the God of the wind and the waves. All you have to do is speak and they must obey you. Help us to learn the art of quieting our minds when they are racing faster than we can keep up. Give us the tools we need to silence the voices that seem to be doing everything but helping us to focus our hearts upon you. Give us a supernatural dose of steadfastness in the department of waiting upon your voice. Sometimes it can be so hard to wait, but we know that hearing your voice is always worth any amount of time that it takes. Please help us to be still. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.