Still and Secure

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalms 46:10 NKJV

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalms 23:2 NKJV

Sitting outside on a late spring day, I decided to close my eyes and just listen. I tried to tune out the lawn mowers, a police siren going by, and even the birds to simply hear the wind hush all the noise and force me to take a deep breath in and out. It’s a struggle to sit in silence especially when silence is hard to come by. There is usually some kind of distraction…the TV on, cell phone notifications dinging, dog barking, kids yelling…and whatever else you can think of that draws your attention from inward to outward. To flitting eyes back and forth, a hurried pace where peace is nowhere to be found, a worried “what’s next” kind of way of living. I find it very hard to believe that this is how we were meant to live. 

Jesus often retreated to the stillness and solitude to pray and seek His Father. In stillness, the most important thing for me is to realize that while I am God’s creation and meant to be and do His will, it is He who is the Creator and Author of all things. It is He who raises the sun high in the sky each day and brings forth the stars at night. It He who creates life, beauty, and light in darkness. It is He who moves the wind that says “hush…be still”. 

Often we feel like we have to do more, be more, try more…to find peace, be happier, become more fulfilled. But what if in the absence of doing, we find our true being? Sitting in silence, being still, knowing God is God and I am not…thank God. I can rest in this knowledge and rest in Him, that I am not alone in this world full of its noise and sometimes utter nonsense. He is our Helper, the one who makes us lie down beside still waters because we need to reflect upon His majesty in the mayhem. We need to find security in the fact that He is sovereign. Because in stillness we can focus on Jesus and rest in His loving arms.