IN THE STILLNESS

Psalms 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Much can be heard, when you are standing still simply to listen to what is around you.  I recall one incident, while in a park waiting for someone to arrive; I began to notice the sights and sounds around me more distinctly. The jumbled mass of people turned out to be different faces with specific features.

The muffled noise of nature slowly became many diverse, yet unique sounds. I heard the trees rustling in the wind. I saw the children playing near the street. I heard people laughing and dogs barking. The park came alive, as I sat still simply waiting for a friend to arrive. This is because our stillness magnifies our surroundings. In a sense, this is why God commands His children to “Be still.”

Oh, if Christians would only stop their busy routine for one moment and “be still” in prayer, then God would be magnified, in their own hearts, as who He truly is! They would come to “know” that He is God Almighty and He “will be exalted among the heathen…(and) in the earth!”

It pains me to think of how often I treat each day as just a “routine rut” where the guy at the grocery store is just “there” to bag my groceries and his problems mean little to my life, where I am careless about how my impatient and irritable tone comes across to the girl working at the drive through. A frenzied life can blur one’s vision to where people become a common statistic rather than a cherished soul!

Do you feel like you have allowed a busy schedule to affect your testimony to man and your fellowship with God? Do the cares of this life seem to weigh you down? God’s command is only to “be still” in prayer, so that you might gain a heart of understanding and compassion and not just intellectually “know”, but "experientially" know that He is God. Perhaps, in this New Year, instead of making many resolutions, we simply make time to rest in the Lord.