BE QUIET AND STILL? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
He says, “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)

MEDITATION:
There was a newspaper article about a fighter plane
that fired off a missile and was moving so fast that
it overtook it and shot itself down. Literally!

Too many of us are doing the same thing.
We are shooting ourselves down.
We don’t take time to slow down, to be still,
and to know that God is God.

We don’t take time to experience the serenity
and inner quietness of being alone with God.
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel,
says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness
and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
(Isaiah 30:15)

Did you catch what was in this verse?
When we are saved, we know what it is like to repent,
and in addition, we have the capability of finding rest.
Salvation encompasses much more than we might realize.

We are also told in this verse that if we expect to gain strength,
then we need to trust the Lord and have seasons of quietness.
It is not referring to physical strength, but rather mental,
spiritual, and emotional strength for coping with the challenges
in our life, and to be able to reach out to others when they
are going through a rough time in their lives.

In order to increase our strength, and experience rest that
reaches every part of our being, we need to perpetually
repent of our sins (confess, have remorse, and ask for God’s
forgiveness), and to set aside time to be alone with the Lord.

Just what would we do when we
spend quiet time alone with the Lord?

For one thing, we reflect on our past when He has helped us
through difficult times, when He has given us special blessings,
when He has inspired us to minister to the needs of someone
else, when He has answered some specific prayer, when He has
shown us how to use the spiritual gift (or gifts) He has given us,
and overall, how He blesses us daily with the necessities of life.

Have you ever gotten on your knees to pray to your Heavenly
Father with the sole intent and purpose of thanking Him for
how He has blessed you, and others?
If you have, then more than likely you were surprised
at the amount of time you spent praying.

When we start naming the areas where He has blessed us,
our prayers can be quite lengthy, can’t they?
As an example, have you ever thanked God for air conditioning
and heat, or for a job and transportation, for furniture, for lawn
equipment, for your talents and capabilities, etc.?

The list can grow exponentially, can’t it?
It may not be the kind of prayer you pray every day, but
doesn’t it just make sense that you should pray this type
of prayer from time to time?
When we do, it reminds us that we are not independent,
but we in fact, depend on God more than we realize.

ACTION:
How much time do we spend being quiet with the Lord?
If we don’t have time to do this, then we are too busy!
Not only that, but we are going to miss out on life
by spending so much time trying to find it.

Try this:
commit to some amount of quiet time with the Lord one
day a week for four consecutive weeks.
Try a minimum of 15 minutes and see if the Lord increases
the time, or due to your experience, you increase the time.

It can be a struggle for us in a fast paced world that
has been conditioned to stay busy in order to keep up.
But, if we never spend quiet time with the Lord, then
how will we ever know and experience the benefits?
To overcome the initial awkwardness, take some deep
breaths and recall how He has been with you in the past.
Then start thanking Him for specific things He has provided.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding me of the
blessings You have for me whenever I am still, and
spend quiet time with You. You are my heavenly Father
who loves and cares about me; I pray that You would
help me in my efforts to spend more time with You. I can
never mention all the ways You have blessed me, but I
know of so many, and I realize I need to thank You for
each of them. When I spend quiet time with You, I pray
that I will not be distracted by the things around me, or
by my own wandering mind. Father, You know how Satan
wants to confuse and distract me in order to damage my
fellowship with You. I pray for the Holy Spirit to deflect
Satan’s efforts, so that I can fully enjoy my time alone
with You.”

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