Be Still Before God

“Be still and know that I am God:  I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the ear

-Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

Meister Eckhart stated, “There is nothing in all creation so like God as stillness.”  The stately truths of Psalm 46 begin:  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2, KJV).

Throughout history God’s people have been admonished by spiritual leaders and the Word of God Himself to “Be still and know that I am God.  The Word of God tells us “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11-12).  The time will come when everyone—believer and unbeliever—will bow and confess the Lord of glory.  If you doubt this truth, see a good concordance of the Bible and note the several places this truth is stated.

I want to be counted in that number who bow voluntarily and not among the agnostics and atheists, who, because of the hardness of their hearts, do not acknowledge God this side of eternity, and therefore (too late, too late!) will bow and declare and exalt His name.

We live in a fast-paced age.  Noise and clamor are on every hand.  Many entities vie for out attention.  Amidst it all comes a still small voice through the din and uproar of a world turned aside from God and His priorities.  That whisper is from the Holy Spirit, God with us, urging each person:  “Be sill…be still and know that I am God.” 

This morning as I was praying, studying and writing devotionals ahead, as I sometimes do, I received the news that my brother-in-law, Wade, had gone to be with the Lord in his sleep.  He had lived a full and, although sometimes hard, a good life, one in which he had served his fellowman as an expert builder/carpenter, had been a hero in General Patton’s army in World War II, had reared a good family of three Christian children, and had taken excellent care of his late wife who had been ill for a number of years.  In recent months, in his sometimes confusion, he had begged his children to take him home, not recognizing his own home as the place of his residence.  He was ready for the move from earth to heaven, and in the stillness of the night in his sleep on June 22, 2012 he made the transition from earth to heaven.  How beautiful to think that God said to him, “Come home, Wade.”  In stillness and in acknowledgement of God He works for good to them who love Him.  To God be the glory!

(Note:  This devotional, in slightly modified form, was published in Mountain Meditations, a compilation of devotionals by House of Prayer Church, Blairsville, GA, produced by Morris Printing, Kearney, NE, 2007, p. 207.

Used by permission, with addition of the last paragraph, written 06.22, 2012. –EDJ)