Taking the Time

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

This scripture in Psalm is similar to that in Exodus 14:14,15 that says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” It’s hard to imagine that at the time the Bible was written that they had a problem with “being still” but they did as seen in the behavior of the Israelites.

Today it’s an epidemic that has swept our country and parts of the world. Our inability to be still is seen in our restless behavior of wanting what we want, now, and having no patience to wait for it. What we are anxious for over the years may have changed but constantly being impatience hasn’t.

Be still, calm down, chill out, whatever phrase you want to use basically comes down to the same thing. Its being quiet long enough in our spirit to allow God to work in our lives as we get to know who He is and what He is all about deep down inside. Knowing that a god exists is religion, but what we should have with our Lord and Savior is more than that. It’s a relationship developed with God in the course of getting to know Him and what He is all about on a one-on-one basis. One hour on Sunday isn’t sufficient to accomplish that it’s a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week commitment to draw closer to Him in our spirit.

As time passes, in our moments of being still we begin to see and realize who God really is, what He is made of and we now get a picture similar to the one found in the entire of chapter of Psalm 46. Discovering that the Lord is not only our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble but He’s also someone who cares about us, a friend in need, a parent on-call, a teacher on duty. Supplying us with the ability to remain still as well as the courage, faith, and trust required to move on.

Years ago when I first came across the scripture about being still, I did just as it said but it wasn’t to get to know the Lord, it was to take a breather from the rat race of life. I was found guilty of getting caught up in the traffic of life only to look down to find myself traveling at the same high speed as everyone else on the freeway. It was time to let my foot off the accelerator and maintain my life at God’s speed, not the world’s speed. I was ignoring the speed limit He had set for me like the travelers on the freeway ignoring the 55 mile an hour speed zone signs as if they were merely milepost.

Taking the time to be still helped calm down a spirit that seemed to be caught up in the tailspin of life itself giving it a chance to rest, however, soon it became an excuse to stay. It was time to do what the second half of both these scriptures said. I needed to move on in faith and trust in the Lord that He was going to see me through the wildest of life’s obstacle courses. The bonus of the trip was the opportunity to get to know the Lord as we walked side-by-side, hand-in-hand.

What an awesome thing to know and see in our lives this God that we have come to be acquainted with and it all started with taking the time to be still long enough in our spirit, hearts, and lives to recognize the truth about God and live by it daily.

God grants us those moments needed to rest and catch our breath but then there comes a time when we have to put our best foot forward in faith and trust in our Lord and Savior to see us through. Knowing in our hearts that He is watching over us no differently than He did the Israelites as He saw them through their journey through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Indeed the Lord will fight for us and we learn this as we gain the knowledge of who God is and what He is all about in our heart, lives, and souls.

Father God in Heaven what a blessing it is to be given such a opportunity to know you, it’s not reserved for only the local pastor, the evangelist in high places, the well-known missionary in a far away country. It’s held in reserve for everyone, all those willing to take the time. Amen.



© 2006 by Karen J. Gillett