"Be Still"
Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."
This
morning, the rat race of life seems to carry on at an unsustainable and
destructive pace. One of the tactics of the enemy is to keep people too busy to
be able to properly think about things. There is an old cliché that states,
"Think long, think wrong." While there is some validity and truth to the
statement, a similar extreme action - if not more destructive - is to think
rashly and quickly. Teachers stress reviewing tests before submitting them, and
writers go through several proofing processes before sending the final edition
to publication. When someone rushes and thereby forces a decision, it is likely
going to be wrong or at the least wrong-headed. When someone is completely
immersed in activity, it can prove quite difficult to give a matter the needed
thought that it requires. Satan understands this, and he has ensnared many
children of God with this device.
When
the Bible speaks of "still" or "stillness" there is generally always a profound
reason for it. For example, the children of Israel on the banks of the Red Sea
were commanded to "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." The express
reason they needed to be still was to see and process God's deliverance to
them. God delivers us in many ways and at different seasons, but our observance
of it in large part depends on the attention we can give it. For example, if
someone was spared from an automobile accident by God's providence and carried
on down the road without another thought, that deliverance - while real - would
go unnoticed. Seeing that life is a fragile thing, what - dear reader - do you
think the sum of God's unseen deliverances to our natural lives would be?
Having thought about that from time to time, I rather suspect that many of us
would be staggered at the sheer magnitude of the times that God took care of us
without our knowledge or observation of it.
God's care of us is so far-reaching that Satan enjoys stealing our sight of any
or all of it that he can. If he can encourage a child of God to doubt his
standing, he will do it. If he can wreck the life of a dear sheep or lamb of
God, he wastes no time. At this present hour, he walks to and fro seeking who
he may devour, as that is his chief aim of work. To combat this, sometimes the
best move in a field of battle is to step back and observe the scene in a more
general way. Though trench warfare is sometimes called for, spending our entire
existence in the trench can rob us of the sight of the bigger picture of the
battle. So, what happens when the foot soldier is able to gain access to the
general survey of the war?
The
command from the Psalmist is to "be still." What is the result? The result is
that something is seen that would not be otherwise. When we are still, we then
know - or "perceive" and "discern" - that the Lord will be exalted among the
heathen and in the earth. By being still (or stepping back in the battle
analogy), we can then discern that no matter how badly the battle seems to be
going, the war's outcome is secure. We win through Him! He will be exalted
above all those things that oppose. Even enemies that seem to have the mastery
of us - like death - will be manifestly put under His feet some day. Though He
rules and reigns above all right now, it will in the future be manifestly
evident that this is the case. Some mistakenly think that He will fight a great
battle some day in the near or distant future. The outcome of this battle will
determine the fate of the universe with heaven's forces being pitted against
hell's. Friends, He fought a great battle 2,000 years ago at Calvary, and His
coming at the end of time will not be to battle His enemies with the outcome in
flux but to show that He has already won!
One
of the things that amazes me when reading writings of the past is how rich and
illustrative they can be. Brethren that lived 100-200 years ago had a mastery
of words and thoughts that seems harder and harder to find today. One of my
fathers in the ministry said, "The old fathers wrote in a style that seemed to
clap like the thunder of heaven." When I asked him why there was no writing
style like that today, he replied, "When men put aside the plow of the field,
their pen was put away too." Reflecting on this today, I can quite see his
point. Men in those days worked in fields, and though perhaps not as educated
or classically trained as men today, they had hours upon hours of sweet
meditation with the Lord. Though not on the same scale, I glimpse this when I
work in my garden. While the hands work on the ground, the mind can cycle
through thoughts and passages in a fertile field of thought.
Meditation is one way of being still so that we can glimpse and discern things
above the normal bustle of life. Putting aside the daily slough for a little
while, our minds can focus on the higher plane (the overall battle scene). By
meditating on the sweet things of Christ, we can glean again in our minds that
He has taken care of us. Whether in this world or the world to come, He watches
over us, and His mastery over our enemies is complete. Whether it is mastery of
things that are in this earth or mastery of unseen enemies, He has never lost a
battle or come close. One of the more fiendish thoughts that man has espoused
is the idea that any fight between God and devil could be "in the balance" as it
were. Friends, Christ does not squeak out victories. He comprehensively
obliterates His foes beneath His feet!
Looking at our foe and ourselves in relation to the Lord, I am always amazed at
what I see. The devil knows that he has lost (Revelation 12:12) yet he
viciously fights like he could win. As God's enlightened children, we know that
we have won through the teachings of Holy Writ, yet we fight like we could
lose! The way our enemy gains this advantage in our mind is by simply crowding
out important things with a host of minor and petty elements. Solution: simply
be still to understand and remember that God has all authority, power, might,
and dominion. Many times He comes to us in a "still small voice," and if
something is still, the only way to perceive it is to be still too. By chasing
the rat race of life, we can - and do - miss the glorious comings of the Lord's
Spirit to comfort, revive, and cheer our souls.
Friends, I am guilty as anyone at letting the unimportant and slightly important
things of life crowd my mind from the really glorious things. My meditation
times can be stripped from me, and times that require stillness are many times
replaced by the noisy bustle of life. One day life will pass us by, and as I
heard a wise old man say in my youth, "This world will spin without you one day,
so it should be no big thing to let it spin on a bit while we're here." So what
of our legacy, remembrance, etc.? They will one day fade away, and perhaps all
that will be left of our memory in the earth is a stone that marks the resting
place of the body. Therefore, let us think on One that is above the earth, will
be exalted in the earth, and remembers us always. Shall we pause to listen and
reflect?
In
Hope,
Bro
Philip