Be Still

Psalm 37: 7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…" If I had a nickel for all the times my wife and I had to tell one of our kids to "sit still" I would be…and you fill in the blank. Our son, Nicholas, was particularly squirmy. Of course there is nothing unusual about a child struggling to sit still in church or in school. The wiggles are a normal part of growing up as we learn to wait patiently.

 This principle applies to our spiritual lives too. In this Psalm David is restless as he thinks about the prosperity of the wicked. It's hard to be patient and wait for the Lord especially when the wicked seem to be living in such ease. In Psalm 46:19 the Lord says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Spiritually speaking, we get the wiggles when we don't see God doing what he has promised to do or what we think he should do. I fear our fast-paced world of same-day Amazon drone delivery is conditioning us to be more impatience in ways that bleed into our relationships with God.

 This recent pandemic has been a great challenge for most of us because God is saying "Be still." But, it's important to remember that the psalmist doesn't stop with "be still." The psalmist says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." The virus has brought the entire world to a standstill, but God is calling us to be still before Him. What does that mean? Well, it's being "still" for a higher reason, to see yourself again before the Lord. It's being still to remember again that you are his and he is yours. It's a "still" that helps you reframe your life by the truth that God has created you and called you to "delight yourself" in Him and "commit your way" to Him (vv. 4-5). Dear Ones, Jesus invites us in a more profound way to "be still" in his finished work for us at the cross, in the power of his resurrection, and before his throne. To the restless soul Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are weary." To the noisy conscience Jesus says, "It is Finished." To the fearful heart Jesus says, "All authority has been given to me." Oh that we would learn to be still in the grip of such marvelous grace!!!