Be Still and know…

Psalms 46:10-11 (NIV)
10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Be still.  One of the hardest, if not the hardest, thing to do in life.  We are wired to do things on our own.  The experiences we have in life, things our parents taught us, lessons we learned in school, advices given by friends, lessons we learned through mistakes we have made…all these are all used to teach us to deal with the different situations that life brings us.

This is why when we have problems, trials, or even just simple situations that need our attention, we naturally try to solve them.  We don’t keep still.  We strive, we struggle, we panic – because that’s what we have been trained to do.  We just cannot be still.

But Scripture, Psalm 46 specifically, does not just tell us to keep still.  I will agree that it does ask the impossible from us.  How can we just keep still.  But Scripture tells us to BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

The reason for being still is to know that God is God.  That’s why a Christian keeps still.  In the heart of a Christian is a desire to know his God, to know how great, how faithful, how loving his God is.  And that’s why a Christian decides to keep still – he wants to know the God that he worships and obeys.

Many Christians don’t want to be still because they want to see the solution right away.  That tells me that their utmost desire is just to have a solution to their problem.  But the utmost desire of a Christian mustn’t just be solutions or answers to prayer, but to know who his God is, to see His power and faithfulness in the situation that he is in.

God Himself proclaimed “I will be exalted…”.  In every situation that God allows to come to our life it is always God’s purpose for His name to be exalted.  What He desires is that we be still so that we know and experience how He exalts His name in our situation.

Have you received a blessing?  Be still and know that He is God in that blessing.  Did you just receive bad news?   Be still and know that even in the midst of that bad news He is still God!  Are you in the midst of a trial, a hardship, a situation that you cannot seem to handle?  Be still.  Be still and know.  Make that a prayer in your heart – Lord, I want to know you in this situation.  I want to know who you are, what you can do, how you will exalt your name in this situation.

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.

Praying for wisdom

Proverbs 8:10-11 (NIV)
10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

All of us (I hope) pray for wisdom, God’s wisdom, everyday.  When we need to make decisions, in our dealings with other people, how to handle our business or work, even for studies.  We should be a people praying for wisdom.  And why not, God in His grace allows us to enjoy the benefits of walking in His wisdom everyday!

James 1:5 (NIV)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

But have you ever stopped and thought about what this wisdom we’re praying for is?  How easy it is for us to pray and say “Father, give me Your wisdom”.  But what is it really that we are asking for?  Consider what Solomon says is Proverbs 8.  Speaking about wisdom he says:

Proverbs 8:27-29 (NIV)
27 I (wisdom) was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

It was God’s wisdom that brought about creation.  Every minute detail of the created universe all came out from God’s wisdom.  And this is what we are asking for – that same wisdom to help us with our problems and situations!  Wow, awesome, isn’t it?

When he set the heavens in place, and the horizons of the deep – places we have not fully discovered yet!  - these were all created with His wisdom!   This is the same wisdom that we pray for everyday.

And God, by His grace, will grant us that wisdom to fix our problems, handle our daily circumstances correctly.  No wonder Solomon also said:

Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Realizing the greatness of this wisdom we are praying for should move us to fear the Lord in what we are asking for.

We recognize the greatness and holiness of the God who is giving us wisdom.

We recognize the greatness and righteousness of the wisdom that God grants us.

We also recognize the grace that grants us a glimpse of that great wisdom.

And we obey, in reverence and fear.  God’s wisdom is not always pleasing to us, or easy to do.  But because we fear Him, and recognize who it comes from, we obey.

And God’s wisdom is the best.  It’s what brings glory to His name in our lives.  The next time we pray for wisdom, let’s realize what we are asking for, and bow in reverence and obedience before Him.

Devotion before Duty

How many of us make the mistake of doing our duties before devotion?  Martha made that mistake.

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

It was very nice for Martha to open her house to Jesus.  Though He was popular, and people were curious about Him, yet He was also controversial.  By welcoming Him to her house Martha showed that she was willing to listen to what He was teaching.

But the story tells us she was distracted.

40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

To be distracted means that you are taken away from what should be your main focus.  The first thing Martha did was to prepare something for her guest.  The preparation became her priority, rather than the guest.  Some say that she was the eldest of the two sisters, and it was her duty to prepare something for the guest.

But she was distracted from what should have been her priority – listening to His teaching.  This is what Mary did.

39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.

She was so devoted to the Lord’s teaching that she forgot everything else she was supposed to do!  Martha saw this as being inconsiderate of her elder sister’s plight.  But Jesus saw this as devotion, devotion to Him.

41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Jesus made it clear.  Mary chose what was best – her sitting down at His feet and listening to His words.  He didn’t say that Martha was doing something wrong, she just didn’t choose what was best at that moment that He was there.  She chose duty before devotion.

How do we know we have been distracted with our duties?

40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

First, she came to Jesus not to pray or listen, but to complain.  “Lord, don’t You care…?”

Second, she felt alone in her duties, as if she was the only one serving.  “my sister has left me to do the work by myself”.

Then, she tells Jesus what He should do, instead of listening and asking Jesus what He wanted her to do.  “Tell her to help me”.

Have we placed our duties before our devotion?  We will have no power, no inspiration, no guidance, no assurance of His presence when we place duty before devotion.

On the other hand, we have power, strength, guidance, wisdom, inspiration, patience, perseverance…and most importantly we have the presence of our Lord with us when we put devotion before duty.

Devotion before Duty.