Be Still

“Stay still!” Those are words that I find myself saying as a Father to my children quite frequently these days. When I’m brushing their teeth… “Stay still.” When I’m taking their picture… “Stay still.” When I’m tying their shoe… “Stay still.” When I’m buttoning their shirt… “Stay still.” When they are sitting in their chair at dinner… “Stay still.”

And there is a sense that our Father in heaven is calling out to us, his children, in a similar way to be still: He says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

There is an awareness of who God is that can only come to us as we get alone with him and are still before him. There is a constant pull in my life to “Do.” But God says, “Be….” “Be still.” I am just like my kids. I find it hard to be still. But, God beckons to me each day, and he calls out to you as well.

At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, shortly after John the Baptist announced that Jesus was the “Lamb of God” (John 1:36), some of John’s disciples wanted to know Jesus more and so Jesus invited them to come and spend the day with him (John 1:39). After some time spent with the Lord, Andrew ran to his brother Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). We discover who God is by spending time with him. Today, we draw closer to God by spending time with him in prayer.

Here is the full context of the words of Psalm 46. “‘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” (Psalm 46:10-11). When we are still before God, we see his greatness, that he will be exalted among the nations and in the earth. When we are still before God, we see that he is with us.

In the midst of some of the busiest moments of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus said to his disciples, “Come away with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). Jesus invites you and me to do the same thing. We need to get alone with him. That is the way to be refreshed and find rest for our souls. There is no other way.

King David knew this too, because he wrote that the Lord “leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul” (Psalm 23:2).  It is those places of quiet where we can be refreshed, renewed, and restored.

Have you done that this week yet? If not, take some time today to be still and know that he is God.