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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.

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