“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10), was a tough task for me. Just like David said in the beginning of Psalm 46 as he was describing what it’s like to cling to the Lord in our times of trouble: God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea…I can tell you that the pressure I put on myself to never fail felt as mighty as an earthquake. The fear of being inadequate for my new job, absolutely threatened to make me crumble like a mountain. It eventually became clear that the Lord had led me here to teach me one of the biggest lessons in the wilderness. The Lord was telling me in these moments of uncertainty and panic of lost control, to be still and know that He is God. To let go and let Him handle all the things I felt inadequate to. To move over and let him show me what He can do. Major things can happen when we just stay still. God can have his way and take his place when we quiet down and give him room. It’s hard to be still when your mind and your thoughts are constantly moving and stacking the odds against you instead of for you. It’s hard to be still when you are dragging around the weight of perfectionism and that anxious weight of controling all the things sitting on your chest.
Am I good enough to do this job?
Am I working fast enough?
Am I going to get all of this work done on time?
Am I going to forget to do something?
Am I going to get things right the first time I try it, or am I going to have to take more time (that I didn’t have) and try again?
What if I get stuck in a situation that I can’t get myself out of, like a question I can’t answer or a problem I can’t solve?
These are just some of the questions that haunted me during the days, weeks, and eventually a couple years. It seemed like the Lord was telling me to be still to all the noise, the thoughts and the emotions I was gripping to, and know that he had a way, a place, a solution to every single one of my struggles. To give him a chance to show me who he really is and what he can really do. I had never given God a chance to have his way in my career or my life in general. I had worked for 10+ years in my career and never worked WITH God. I never included him, never consulted him, never looked for him in the highs and the lows, never gave him credit for success or advancement. So on the 11th year, it was like the Lord said, “Enough! Let’s work together. Move over and let Me show you Who I am. Invite Me into your day, give Me your thoughts and your cares because I am so interested. It’s important to Me and always has been. Learn these lessons now so you can walk in them forever.”
I think the key word in Psalm 46:10 is KNOW. You can’t do the first part of the verse, without doing the second part. You can’t be still if you don’t know who God is. The Lord was asking me to do something I didn’t know how to do. I did not know how to be still, because I did not know God. I did not know how to be still to my anxious thoughts or constant worries and heavy pressure. I had this constant “need” to know that everything was going to be ok that day at work. I “needed to know” that everything was going to work out, that I wouldn’t be stuck or have to struggle to be successful during my work day. I “needed to know” that I could do all the things and do them well. Psalm 46:10 does not say, “Be still and know that YOU can do it all, and all by yourself.” It does say however, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Here’s some things to know…..
How much bigger God’s hands are to hold all our troubles, how much bigger his mind is to create new ideas and solutions to our problems.
How much wisdom, knowledge, and experience he has in all matters of life, more than we could ever try to have. He’s the God of all creation, what is there that he can’t do and doesn’t know about?
The more we know God, the more we will know ourselves.
The more we know what He can do, the more we will learn what we shouldn’t try to do anymore, the more we will realize we were not made to ever live through this life alone in our own strength and limited capabilities.
We don’t have to carry the weight of the world in or hands, around our shoulders, or in our minds, when we finally realize that God will that.
Rest has a place when we are finally still, and we can only be still when we finally know God, and the ultimate way to know him is through relationship. Quality time happens to my love language and I believe it’s God’s too! Lol!! But seriously, making the time and spending the time reading and studying God’s word (The Bible) is a non negotiable. If we are willing to spend time with people we know and people we don’t know i.e. TV and social media, then we should have no problems spending time with the Lord. If we can hold whole conversations with others and about others, then again, we should have no problems having conversations with the Lord in prayer.
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:21)
I want to encourage you to make spending time with the Lord the treasure of your heart, because we are already the treasure of his <3
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