Be Still and Know That I Am God

How essential it is for me to quiet myself before God. It’s easier, though, to pour out all the things that are on my mind than it is to listen to what my Father has to say to me. Have you ever tried to get your point across to someone who wouldn’t let you get a word in edgewise, and when you finally did get to speak, you knew that they weren’t hearing you because they were too busy framing their next comment? That’s how the Lord must sometimes feel. Faith, God says, comes from hearing - not speaking – and hearing comes from the Word of God. It’s only when God can reveal Himself to me through His Word, that I can see myself in truth and be changed more into Christ’s image. Then it is that I relinquish the control of my life to Him and truly know that He is God.

As I was praying before church one Sunday morning, I became aware of a stinging sensation in my finger. Looking closely at it, I found that I had driven a wooden splinter deep into the flesh of my right index finger. I was amazed at how much it hurt and yet I had not noticed it before. Thinking back, I realized that I had probably done it days before and carried it with me, along with the discomfort, for all the time in between without being aware of it. As I became quiet before the Lord, however, the presence of this little thorn in my flesh became very evident and commanded my attention.

That’s when God spoke to me. He made me realize that the splinter wasn’t the only hurt that I carried around with me and was too busy to recognize. I was carrying frustrations, hurt feelings, stress, disappointments, and a myriad of other wounds around with me, and was not even aware that I was hurt. In that quiet time before the Lord, I was able to see these “wounds” in my life that, with the Lords help, I could give to Him to heal.

Needless to say, I left that prayer session feeling like a new man. I also came away with a better understanding of who God is and of my dependency on Him for my spiritual health. I could see that in my busy life I need to be still before God and listen to what He has to say rather than always presenting my demands and then missing where my true needs - and His will - really lie. This is the only way that I can really know that He is God.

“The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” - Psalm 46:7-11

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