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)
And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the
LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you
see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace (be quiet)." (Exodus 14:13-14)
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and
be troubled, Though the
mountains shake with its swelling. Selah …Be
still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm
46:1-11)
Religious Activity: The
Art of Appeasing an Angry God
It seems to
me that most of what predominantly passes itself off as religion has always
been and unfortunately still is, the art of doing something special to appease
an angry and vengeful God. From giving him the best of the harvest (which He doesn’t
eat) to offering Him the sacrificial death of our firstborn (which He doesn’t
want) our human ancestors sought thus to stay in good graces with an easily
irritated and angry God.
Today we neither bring our fruit or firstborns to the altar, yet religion continues to march on, as we offer the sacrifices of worry and willpower on that same altar hoping to solicit God’s attention.
Should we
encounter the inexplicable or catastrophic we do so with the power of a ‘Do
More so he’ll Notices Us Grunt Christianity’. Just try harder! If we feel he
won’t pay attention to our plight, we wave our religious hands in desperation
in hopes that He will notice. Who knows… maybe he’ll see and come to our aid!
When trouble
or tragedy brings the insecurity of wondering what mood God might be in, we
sub-conscientiously are instructed or blatantly counseled by some well meaning
pastor or friend; …. To pray more, read the bible more, witness more, go to
church more, serve more, give more etc. etc.
Hence; being
convicted of how much we have fallen short of the ideal and how much more we
could have done if we had only known that this
circumstance was coming, we begin to ‘grunt’ up our religious offerings
in a flurry of writhing , work, and worry. In so doing (or as this bogus
concept promises) God will notice our efforts, come near with His comfort and
we will begin to feel better. Who knows….he might even stop being so mean to
us. We might not ever use those exact words but we do, in extreme times, begin
to think along those lines.
Sometimes
this type of religious fretting and grunting will even give us a faint feeling
of hope in attracting the attention of this ‘I told you so’ kind of
disinterested wrathful God. Yet the continued practice of this idea will set us
up for having to offer an even more ardent and sacrificial sacrifices the next
time problems arise and trust me… there’s always a next time.
Being Still
Well then;
what should we do when trouble comes? How should we be when trauma, tragedy and
the fear of the unknown come rushing in and it seems as if your whole world is
being shaken (or even removed)?
King David
put it very plainly….. Just be still.
That phrase
‘be still’ could not be more descriptive… it means quit striving. The original
Hebrew word means …. Abate, cease, fail, wait till evening, faint, idle, leave,
let alone, be slack, be feeble, be still, be slothful, be weak. (Strong’s Greek
and Hebrew dictionary #7503).
There is
nothing in the phrase, ‘be still’, that would indicate we should … try to grunt
up more belief or worse, send up spiritual flares by doing more religious
activities. So why, when the scriptures clearly indicate that stillness is the
correct response, do we start working so hard? If we’re really honest with
ourselves the answer is very simple.
There are
areas in our life we aren’t sure of His love. Places deep inside of us where
His love has not driven out the primal fear of being alone. That is why He
allowed us to come into these circumstances. He wants us to know His love in
every area of our lives. He said He would never leave us or forsake us. Because
we don’t really believe that, our confidence resides in our misguided childish
efforts to try and get his attention or worse… through religious activity try
to do something that will appease his displeasure!
These panic
driven religious acts are driven by our fears of this ‘angry or disinterested god’
and what he might or might not do. They betray the fact that we are not
trusting that He is a good Father, always pays attention to our troubles and
setting limits as to how far those troubles can go. Our hope resides in getting
this terrible god to once again notice and help us.
Our Current Experience
This has
been both the most difficult and the most productive time we have ever spent in
Kenya. We have been thrust into frightening spiritual conflicts and at the same
time presented with unbelievable potential for ministry. Early in the conflict
it became obvious that there was nothing we could do to stop or even slow down
these vicious onslaughts. Month after month they continued. The temptation to
defend ourselves, retaliate legally, run home, hide or just do anything was
tremendous.
Yet the
Spirit of God continually spoke to our spirits and emphatically telling us to just
get still. So that is what we did. The results?
God sent a man whose actual name means ‘God’s Peace’ into our house
whose first words were…. “God sent me here to help you”. From that day on we began to experience the
salvation our God. Everything now is moving forward and even our little puppy
that almost died of Parvo virus (a fatal puppy dog disease) has recovered.
While ‘being
still’ doesn’t necessarily mean inactivity, it certainly does mean to quiet all
mental and emotional activities to hear God more completely. We like the psalmist must learn to tell our
soul (emotions and thoughts) to shut up and wait on God.
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
(Psalm 62:5)
Should we do
so in quiet faith…. Like lightening in a great storm, heaven will send power to
the earth for our deliverance. Many times though, power from heaven is waiting
for us to reveal our power ….to be
still.
