Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am God Psalm 46: 10

In these days of COVID-19 these words could not be more important. Our worlds have been shaken. Nothing is the same and it is vital that we ‘Be still and know that I am God.’

Stillness is not something that comes easily to those of us raised in the west. Our lives are designed to be ‘Go, go, go’. We are encouraged to be active physically and mentally. No time to sit around. Too much to do. And yet God invites us to come and be still.

In these unique days, our life may have ground to a halt, our job lost or on furlough or at the other extreme we are expected to do our job as well as home school the children who are now with us 24/7. In either extreme being still does not seem to be an option. Either our minds are in mental turmoil or our days are so cluttered that taking time out to be still seems plain ridiculous and yet that is God’s invitation or is it a command?

Many years ago when we had four children, having a quiet time to be with God did not seem to be an option. I longed for it and I cried out to God to show me how in the busyness of life, I could possibly set some time aside for him. He showed me that after school the children came home and for half an hour they were occupied. I snuck off into our tiny study, left the door open in case I was needed and for half ah hour I spent the most wonderful time with him.

God knows our heart and will make a way. On the other hand years later I was snowed under at work, I was exhausted and God kept persistently asking me to get up half an hour earlier to spend time with him. It seemed madness but after arguing with God for months, I set the alarm for half an hour earlier and again in those precious times, I met with God in such a way that I was carried through those stressful days.

However you may find you have an unaccustomed amount of time to be with God. Make the most of it. Your day with be shaped and blessed by this time because it is not enough just to be still, we are exhorted to ‘know that I am God.’  Knowing in the Bible does not mean learning 100 new facts about God. Knowing means experiencing.  ‘Be still and experience God.’ That is a treasure worth seeking out.

Experiencing God, his love, his grace, his kindness, his forgiveness, his acceptance, his approval are gems worth pursuing. There is no obvious end product in terms of goals achieved but the change in our life and well-being are priceless.

These are unusual days. The whole world is being shaken but we can be safe and secure in the knowledge that God is for us, God is in control. When these days are past, the world will be a different place but hopefully we too will be in a different place with a relationship with God that is firm and secure, where we have a greater understanding of who we are.

God has plans and purposes that he is working out and we have our part to play. We are not designed to sit idle but to be busy about the Lord’s business. This comes though through the great paradox of Be still and know that I am God.

A Sabbath day of rest

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  Exodus 20: 8 – 9

Busyness is one of the greatest deceptions of modern life. There is almost a virtue of being busy.  Christians on Facebook will tell their friends all about the wonderful things they have been doing and how busy they are. However, I am not saying that laziness is a virtue either but as the old saying goes, ‘we are human beings not human doings’. Who we are is more important than what we do.

Busyness sounds so fulfilling and satisfying with not a minute to spare but that is the very problem. When over busy, we have no time to think, meditate and often pray and read our Bibles. We are too busy to stop and if we do stop we feel guilty that we are not doing something.

That is why God instituted the Sabbath day of rest and he not only commanded it, he also did it. Right at the beginning God rested on the seventh day after spending six days creating the universe and our wonderful planet. The Sabbath was given to the Israelites before the 10 commandments (Exodus 16:23). Indeed the origin of the word Sabbath is rested. It is good to rest and God commanded the Sabbath as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. 

This is where the howl goes up that we are not under law but under grace but God in his graciousness has given us a day of rest. I believe it is to the detriment of both individuals and society that we have thrown away our rest day as casually as we throw out the rubbish. 

Several times in the Bible God warns us that when the cares and worries of life take over, we will miss out on what He is doing. In the parable of the sower, one lot of seed never came to fruition because the cares and worries of life choked it (Matthew 13: 22). Busyness fills our life with cares and worries – we have so much to think about that we have trouble thinking about God and the life he wants for us.  In Luke 21 Jesus was talking about the end times and again warns that the cares and anxieties of life cloud our vision from what is going on (Luke 21: 34). Jesus is always alerting us to watch and pray. Busyness crowds that out.

Making a conscious choice to keep one day of the week separate (holy) to the Lord is vital for believers. The busyness of modern life will choke our minds and hearts from what God is saying and doing unless we choose each week to set aside a day to rest and re-group. This is not a day to necessarily spend being all spiritual or at church all day but a day to spend with God, family and friends; a day to clear our minds of the clutter of the week and to think about other things.

Let us unashamedly grasp hold of our day of rest and use it as that – a day of rest – not a day to catch up on the chores but a day of rest. I guarantee that as we honour God with our Sabbath, he will help sort out our priorities for the week and there will always be time to get those things done that need to be done AND we will be refreshed in every way and our lives enriched. I can recommend it wholeheartedly.