As Summer is quickly coming upon us, I’ve noticed my dog, Mack, has been panting a lot. Every dog does, right? Yeah, but few pant like Mack. It’s so loud my family and I can barely hear the TV, we can’t hear each other, and we can hardly hear our own thoughts. He gets so worked up from running and chasing our other dog that he can’t settle down. He’ll lie down for a little while and pant like crazy and then he gets up and does something else. He gets worked up over so little and then can’t settle down long enough to pay attention to anything. You know, kind of like us humans.
The typical American gets up in the morning and checks his or her news sources first thing to see what new terror awaits them that day. You flip on the TV and hear nothing but depressing news about burnt houses and hit and runs. You go to Fox News or CNN to see how ISIS is advancing their agenda and to see what your favorite presidential candidate had to say about it. You check ESPN to see how the playoffs went last night. You check Twitter to learn that some celebrity did something crazy to make headlines. You then go to work where you’re reminded of the stack of paperwork you left last Friday in your attempt to leave the office a little early before the weekend. You then get an alert on your phone telling you there’s breaking news: some NBA player broke his hand and will miss the remainder of the playoffs, so of course you have to read the article to see what happened. Then another link catches your attention…and then another…and then…I think you get the point. Just like my dog, we get so worked up over the meaningless things that we get too flustered or tired to pay attention to what really matters. Every day, we chase the proverbial dogs in our lives to the point where we get home and pant too loudly for us to hear the soft call of God.
In Psalm 46:10, the sons of Korah record the words of God, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Another translation that I prefer is, “Be still and know that I am God.” In this particular Psalm, they describe the world falling apart. They use terminology like “though the earth should change,” “though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea,” “though its waters roar and foam,” and “though the mountains quake.” They identify it as “trouble” in v. 1 and portray the world as being in a bad spot.
Maybe if I was writing this today using literal terms I might use phrases like, “Though my school gets more stressful by the week, though my church isn’t growing in numbers, though Satan tempts me nearly every day, though the economy is in trouble, and though the Muslims and homosexuals advanced their agenda each day.”
Yet the message remains the same throughout the chapter as seen in vs. 1, 7, and 11 – God is our strength or stronghold. It seems impossible to be still when so much is going on around us, but v. 11 is the key, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” As bad as things may seem some days, vs. 8-9 remind us that the works of the Lord are more powerful than anything else, including the forces of Islam, the homosexual movement, and even Satan himself. But that can be so easy to forget, which leads us to v. 10.
In most texts v. 10 is in quotations because it’s a quote from God. The words “cease striving” or “be still” are a command from God here. God realizes there’s a difference between just saying He is in control and truly knowing He’s in control. When life gets stressful or difficult, we might make the occasional claim of, “Well, God is watching over us,” or quote a verse like Romans 8:28, but do we stop and really reflect on that? Do we quiet our lives for long enough to fully grasp that the God who spoke the universe into existence is actually aware of our problems and knows exactly how to help us in ways where we don’t even know how to help ourselves? We may stress so much and try to fix things that are out of our control, but ultimately only God is on His throne and in control of all.
Instead of stressing about the things that we can’t control, cease striving and focus on God. I’ve recently gotten into a sort of meditation where I don’t pray, but instead I just close my eyes and focus on God sitting on His throne. The angels are rejoicing and saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). It’s not always about praying, but simply focusing on heaven and the glory of the Lord. The person with a quiet spirit is better able to clear his mind, focus on what we know from what God has given us, and discern God’s will to live a life of peace that non-Christians will marvel at. Life can be so stressful and God knows this. We must seek ways to slow down and listen to God’s words, “Be still and know that I am God.”
By Joe Wilkie
