Be Still

Our time in Alaska is rapidly coming to a close and as I think back on the summer and reflect on all that happened I cannot stop thinking about what God has been teaching me. I do not believe it was an accident that the first thing I read this summer was a sermon by Jonathan Edwards on the Sovereignty of God. Edwards sermon was based on Psalm 46 in which the Psalmist lays out a beautiful portrayal of the sovereignty of our God. He talks about the power and majesty of creation, how the sea can swallow up the mountains and the Earth can give way. The Psalmist also mentions the power of mankind, he speaks of nations raging and rising up against each other. We tend to spend a great deal of time either worrying or thinking about the power of creation (natural disasters, etc.) and the power of mankind (wars, terrorism, etc.). And the sad reality of it is that we seem to spend very little time thinking about the God who not only created it but controls it as well. In Job 38 God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind and says to him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?...Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb…and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’”. That is why the Psalmist can say “we do not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea…” Our God controls every bit of it!
And in this age of terrorism and war do we have any reason to live in a state of fear and worry? Psalm 46:6 “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters his voice, the earth melts.” And in verse 9 “He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.” It does not matter what man does, if we rise up nations and kingdoms all He has to do is merely utter his voice and our very existence is gone. We can produce the most sophisticated weapons and strategies but God will break and shatter them.
So what do we do? How are we to act as believers in a world where man does not believe or care about the God that created it? God does not leave us searching for answers, in verse 10 of the Psalm he very clearly tells us what He desires. God says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted among the earth!” God will be victorious and one day all who walk the face of this earth will bow down and worship Him, but for now be still. It goes against everything society tells us, we are supposed to live life at rapid speed stopping for nothing and no one. Think about the last time you stopped everything going on in your life and were just still, not just physically sitting down and resting but mentally stopping as well. Realistically, we tend to rarely stop physically and almost never mentally, some of us even have trouble sleeping at night because our minds race with all that must be accomplished the next day. God commands us to be still, and not only to be still but to know that He is God. I challenge you to make time this week to sit and be still, to actually listen to God instead of talking His ear off. Be still and know that our God is God and reigns sovereign over this world!