{"id":1155,"date":"2015-05-12T02:03:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T07:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focuspressblog.com\/?p=1155"},"modified":"2015-05-12T02:03:58","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T07:03:58","slug":"lets-be-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/05\/12\/lets-be-still\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting with God in the midst of information overload"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As Summer is quickly coming upon us, I\u2019ve noticed my dog, Mack, has been panting a lot.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Every dog does, right?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Yeah, but few pant like Mack.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s so loud my family and I can barely hear the TV, we can\u2019t hear each other, and we can hardly hear our own thoughts.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>He gets so worked up from running and chasing our other dog that he can\u2019t settle down.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>He\u2019ll lie down for a little while and pant like crazy and then he gets up and does something else.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>He gets worked up over so little and then can\u2019t settle down long enough to pay attention to anything.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0You know, kind of like us humans.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> 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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>You flip on the TV and hear nothing but depressing news about burnt houses and hit and runs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>You check ESPN to see how the playoffs went last night.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>You check Twitter to learn that some celebrity did something crazy to make headlines.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>You then go to work where you\u2019re reminded of the stack of paperwork you left last Friday in your attempt to leave the office a little early before the weekend.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>You then get an alert on your phone telling you there\u2019s 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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0Then another link catches<\/span>\u00a0your attention\u2026and then another\u2026and then&#8230;I think you get the point.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> In Psalm 46:10, the sons of Korah record the words of God, \u201cCease striving and know that I am God.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Another translation that I prefer is, \u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>In this particular Psalm, they describe the world falling apart.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>They use terminology like \u201cthough the earth should change,\u201d \u201cthough the mountains slip into the heart of the sea,\u201d \u201cthough its waters roar and foam,\u201d and \u201cthough the mountains quake.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>They identify it as \u201ctrouble\u201d in v. 1 and portray the world as being in a bad spot.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Maybe if I was writing this today using literal terms I might use phrases like, \u201cThough my school gets more stressful by the week, though my church isn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/strong><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> Yet the message remains the same throughout the chapter as seen in vs. 1, 7, and 11 &#8211; God is our strength or stronghold.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It seems impossible to be still when so much is going on around us, but v. 11 is the key, \u201cThe Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>But that can be so easy to forget, which leads us to v. 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> In most texts v. 10 is in quotations because it\u2019s a quote from God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The words \u201ccease striving\u201d or \u201cbe still\u201d are a command from God here.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>God realizes there\u2019s a difference between just <em>saying<\/em> He is in control and truly <em>knowing<\/em> He\u2019s in control.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>When life gets stressful or difficult, we might make the occasional claim of, \u201cWell, God is watching over us,\u201d or quote a verse like Romans 8:28, but do we stop and really reflect on that?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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\u2019t even know how to help ourselves?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Instead of stressing about the things that we can\u2019t control, cease striving and focus on God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve recently gotten into a sort of meditation where I don\u2019t pray, but instead I just close my eyes and focus on God sitting on His throne.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The angels are rejoicing and saying, \u201cHoly, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!\u201d (Revelation 4:8).<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s not always about praying, but simply focusing on heaven and the glory of the Lord.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>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\u2019s will to live a life of peace that non-Christians will marvel at.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Life can be so stressful and God knows this.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>We must seek ways to slow down and listen to God\u2019s words, \u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><strong>By Joe Wilkie<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Summer is quickly coming upon us, I\u2019ve noticed my dog, Mack, has been panting a lot.\u00a0Every dog does, right?\u00a0Yeah, but few pant like Mack.\u00a0It\u2019s so loud my family and I can barely hear the TV, we can\u2019t hear each other, and we can hardly hear our own thoughts.\u00a0He gets so worked up from running [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,59,35],"tags":[61,204,576,577,578],"class_list":["post-1155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-christian-living","category-culture","tag-faith","tag-guest","tag-peace","tag-silence","tag-trust","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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