Skip to main content

Be Still

           Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:8-11)

 

          Most of the time, we see verse 10 pulled out of context: “Be still, and know that I am God.” It sounds like an invitation to sit back, relax, and enjoy God being Mr. Wonderful. In context, it sounds closer to “Sit down, shut up, and pay attention. I’m in charge here.” The passage sounds as though He’s going to come take our toys away, break them over His knee and put us all in a time out.

          Just as with yesterday’s passage about every knee bowing, we may be tempted to say, “Yeah, God, show them who’s boss,” until He take our bows, spears, and shields and we realize that He’s telling us to sit down and shut up, too. Will we feel tempted to point at the other folks and say, “They started it”? Do we really think that will earn us a reprieve?

          Ultimately, we have a choice. We can bow the knee now by choice, or later on command. We can be still by choice, or in answer to His thundered command. It’s hard to do by choice. When I was walking and jogging a lot, I would often be at least 3.5 miles into my distance before the noise went away. It took me over 30 minutes and the exertion of that my physical energy before I stopped whining, stopped lecturing, stopped keeping myself company and listened.

          I had the great benefit when I was jogging. There were only two possible external distractions, my dog and my phone, and the phone rarely rings. Now, the silence is harder to find. It’s all my fault. I could go somewhere with just my dog and me again, but I “need” to have my camera, and there’s so much that needs to be done at home. I can’t just be for long enough to close the door on all the noise.

          And yet, that’s when God shows up.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more