About 45 minutes to half an hour before her bedtime, she got awfully quiet. I figured she was just playing. That was until I looked down and noticed she had fallen asleep under the table by my feet. The moment was captured by the camera. Only time she slowed down was when she was at my feet.
I don't know about you, but I have trouble sitting still. I have trouble being still. Just like Little Bit, I find things to keep me busy and I don't stop. But then I remember in Psalm 46:10, we are told to "Be still, and know that I am God."
In a world of go, go, go, being still is a foreign concept. We have deadlines to meet, dishes to wash, clothes to launder, dogs to walk, floors to vacuum, sinks to fix, sleep to catch. When is there even time to be still? Better yet, what does it even mean to be still? In the context of Psalm 46, it is an imperative verb meaning to abandon, forsake, to let go, to be quiet.
Have you ever heard someone say that it is imperative that we leave now? What do they mean by imperative? What is an imperative verb? It means absolutely necessary or required. It is also a command. So when God tells us to be still, He is saying it is absolutely necessary. He is not asking us. He is not saying, "it would be a good idea". He is commanding us because it is absolutely necessary to be still, and know that He is God. It is for our good. Not for His.
So back to the question. How do we be still in an on the go world? Faith. We have to have faith that God will take care of all of our stresses. We have to have faith that God will take care of our problems. God has proven on multiple occasions that He can handle our problems, big or small. He fed the 5,000. What makes us thing He won't make sure there is food on the table? He healed the men of leprosy. Why don't we think He will our broken families? He dies on the cross for us. Why do we think He doesn't care enough about our problems to take care of them? I wonder if God says to us "oh ye of little faith" whenever we refuse to give our problems over to Him. In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus says: "Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For after these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
But to let go means we have to relinquish control to someone else. This is a big deal for many. This is a big deal for me! I like to be in control of anything that affects me personally. If something needs to be completed and I am on the committee, I will do all the work just to make sure it gets done. I don't want to take the chance of it not getting done. Or even worse, of it not getting done right! So you could say I am somewhat of a control freak. (See Control Freak in the Unmaking). So when it comes to giving control of a problem to someone else, let's just say I start to worry. If I am not taking care of it, then how will it ever get done? God has asked to take over my problems. And yours. All of them! Not just the big ones. He wants them all! You know that leaky faucet? Yep, He wants that one! the kids are sick? He's got it! The job that is stressing you out tot he point of using up all your sick days, and then some? He will take care of it! The only problem He has is getting us to let it go! He can't seem to get our fingers from around it. And He isn't going to force us into giving our problems over to Him. He wants us to relinquish control over to Him freely. All we have to do is give it all to Him. (See "To the Rock that is Higher than I")
In Counsels for the Church pg 294 Ellen White speaks of God’s Interest in Little Things - "There are few who rightly appreciate or improve the precious privilege of prayer. We should go to Jesus and tell Him all our needs. We may bring Him our little cares and perplexities as well as our greater troubles. Whatever arises to disturb or distress us, we should take it to the Lord in prayer. When we feel that we need the presence of Christ at every step, Satan will have little opportunity to intrude his temptations. It is his studied effort to keep us away from our best and most sympathizing friend. We should make no one our confidant but Jesus. We can safely commune with Him of all that is in our hearts. Brethren and sisters, when you assemble for social worship, believe that Jesus meets with you; believe that He is willing to bless you. Turn the eye away from self; look unto Jesus, talk of His matchless love. By beholding Him you will become changed into His likeness. When you pray, be brief, come right to the point. Do not preach the Lord a sermon in your long prayers. Ask for the bread of life as a hungry child asks bread of his earthly father. God will bestow upon us every needed blessing if we ask Him in simplicity and faith."
So now we are still.
We have let go of the troubles, the worries, the problems. We have become quiet. What do we do next? We know.
To know means to confess, to know by experience, to acknowledge. It is more than just know OF God. We must know God. So how do we come to know God?
Start with the basics.
Find time. Delve into His
Word.
The Bible compares the relationship of the church and Jesus
as a marriage. These comparisons are
found in Matthew 25:1-13, Ephesians 5:22-27, and Revelation 21:2. In any good
marriage, you have to have good communication.
You have to study your spouse.
You have to spend quality time with each other. A marriage is more than a contract. It is a commitment.
Professor H.W. Jurgen, a West German sociologist, claims that
married couples chat with one another 70 minutes a day in the first year of
their marriage. This drops to 30 minutes a day in the second year and then only
to 15 minutes a day in the 4th. His research shows that by the eighth year, a
husband and wife, typically, share hardly any small talk and become nearly
silent with one another. And we wonder
why so many marriages end in divorce.
But if our relationship with God is likened to that of a marriage, I
don’t want this to describe my relationship with God. We are told to pray without ceasing in 1st
Thessalonians 5:17. Of course this means
to be ready to pray at all times. Jesus
found time to escape the crowds and pray.
In Steps to Christ, chapter 11, Ellen White says Prayer is the opening of
the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make
known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does
not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.
When Jesus was upon the earth, He taught His disciples how to pray. He
directed them to present their daily needs before God, and to cast all their
care upon Him. And the assurance He gave them that their petitions should be
heard, is assurance also to us.
Jesus Himself, while He dwelt among men, was often in prayer. Our Saviour
identified Himself with our needs and weakness, in that He became a suppliant,
a petitioner, seeking from His Father fresh supplies of strength, that He might
come forth braced for duty and trial. He is our example in all things. He is a
brother in our infirmities, "in all points tempted like as we are;"
but as the sinless one His nature recoiled from evil; He endured struggles and
torture of soul in a world of sin. His humanity made prayer a necessity and a
privilege. He found comfort and joy in communion with His Father. And if the
Saviour of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should
feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.
Not only is communication important, but so is our study of the word of
God. The more you study your spouse, the
more you get to know them and the more you fall in love with them. This is also true with God. The more we study His word, the more we get
to know him and the more we fall in love with Him. And even better, the more we become like
Him. By beholding we become changed.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman
that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy
2:15
"And the Father
Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at
any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have
His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the
Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me
that you may have life". John 5:37-40
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
for all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 and the seek means to
crave. Again, it is an imperative verb,
meaning it is a command. So we must
crave the kingdom of God.
We are able to "be still, and know that I am God" only By God's Amazing Grace.
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