Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God."

 

 

Sometimes it's difficult to just stop, isn't it? I know, for myself, I like to keep going, keep moving, keep working, keep pressing my life for all it's worth. Why do I do this? How has silence become so ominous to me? Why is stillness so hard? I don't mean inactivity. I can do that! I mean the sort of stillness that waits upon the LORD. 

 

It hasn't always been that way. There were season when I could just relax and let go, not worry about bills or schedules or making other people happy. I could just be. I could just listen and wait.

 

I remember walking along a wall atop an ocean cliff as a child. I had no schedule, no concerns. All I had was time, the wall, and the ocean. It was a beautiful day, the sort of day that makes you believe in God. I could see the ocean bottom below the surface. It looked shallow, but it wasn't. I remember seeing two giant Sting Rays gliding above the coral reefs with their fins gently stroking the shoreline current.

 

I remember sitting on a hilltop in Israel, watching the sun set and listening to some college students singing praise songs nearby. The sky was brown and blue and gold and red and black all at once. I remember how the stars faded into view as the sky seemed to drop over the horizon.

 

I remember watching at the Damascus Gate as an Arab man below sold his Turkish Coffee from a bag thermos that reminded me of bagpipes. He wore a plain, long, white thobe and I think a boy was with him.

 

I remember a sunrise, standing on the edge of a volcanic crater as I listened to the animals far below trading off their various night-time role for the day-time ones.

 

I remember sitting in my car on a busy African street just watching the hustle of the marketplace. Bidding, buying, bargaining... life in full swing, with every player completely ignorant of the audience watching their performance.

I remember nights in Zanzibar when I would drive my Vespa into the city center and wander among the vendors and tourist, not really belonging to either of their worlds. I would wait patiently for hunger to come upon me and then buy a Zanzibar Pizza or some freshly squeezed Sugar-Cane Juice. Then, I would drive home through the cool air and dark streets to my empty house and locked gates and fall asleep knowing the presence of Holy Spirit.

 

I remember a day on the streets of London, and another as well. One spent roaming around with a man I'd just met on a day with no crowds. The other walking through busy streets by myself waiting for the time to pass. I met a man that day as well, and encouraged him to consider life as a Christian.

 

 

Lord, help me to find more still moments.

Help me to listen and hear your voice.

Help me to take time to remember and know that You are God.

 

PSALM 46

 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah