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PROGRAM D-8431
I’m going to start a verse for you and see if you can finish it: Be still. . .
That’s it! “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). This is a very familiar verse. You and I can recite it easily. But here’s a harder question: Do we practice it? What does it mean? How do we do it?
At first, it seems like a very simple, straight-forward message: “Be still and know that I am God.” But I have discovered that it is not that easy to implement in my life, and I have a feeling many of you share that experience.
First, it’s not easy to simply be still, is it? We live in a world that seems to be in perpetual motion. All of us have more to do than we ever get done. It is not in vogue to “be still.” Successful people aren’t viewed as people who are “still.” Rather, they are people who are active. We have this idea that if we’re not doing something, we’re not being productive.
Those of us who are mothers remember how often we’d just give anything if our children would just be still! All that energy and constant movement! How many times have you taken your child’s shoulders, looked him or her in the eyes, and said, “Please, BE STILL!” You feel as though you cannot get anywhere with them until they simply STOP.
God, our Father, says the same thing to us: “Be still. STOP!” Stop working, stop moving, stop talking—STOP!” The first hurdle we face is to get our bodies to be still—to literally stop moving—and for most of us, that does not come easy.
I have learned that I must plan this “still” time in my day. It must be designated and I must give it the highest priority. For me, it needs to be early in my day, before my mind is cluttered and my concentration is divided.
Are you having some difficulty learning to be still? I encourage you to take this verse seriously and don’t let the world shove you into its mold of constant motion. If you don’t learn to be still, you’ll never really be able to learn to know God.