Be Still and Know
1/3/12
To be still and know is a simple concept can be one of the hardest realities that a human can undertake in her or his life. How hard is it for a person to just stop what they are doing and concentrate on a single subject? Would our decisions be better ones if we are calm? Every day we are subjected to the hustle and bustle of the world around us with most of us not even taking a break from this pattern until we get to our houses after completing our daily activities. Why is it so difficult for us humans not to achieve this standard on a consistent basis, it would make many of the decisions that we have to make easier and quicker.
I was talking with one of my friends today about this concept and how he has difficulty in weeding through all of the other voices that are in his head to hear the voice of God when he is asking for an answer to a question of his or when God is trying to speak to him. I am not saying that he “hears other voices” in his head I was referring to all of the things that are thrown into our heads as we are completing our daily tasks. He was saying how frustrating it is sometimes when we find ourselves wading through all of these thoughts and how we forget that we should be listening to the one reigning voice in our minds.
In the same conversation with my friend, both of us agreed that this concept actually builds a relationship with God and how it Satan uses our daily intercourses as a barrier in the development of relationship with God. We quickly forget that it is Satan’s desire that we be off of this world, for as long as we are alive and walking this planet our potential for God’s Kingdom is a threat to his kingdom. Satan has no regard for you or your life, which allowing continual chaos in our minds is one way that he keeps us from advancing our potential for God’s kingdom. So naturally it would be a great importance for Satan’s kingdom if you were never allowed to take a breath of the air that God provided for you.
This also applies to the human to human relationships as well. When we are listening to other people we must concentrate on what they are saying so that we can give honest responses when necessary. We may not always agree on the responses that humans give each other but at least we will show others that we are interested enough to listen and to acknowledge their opinions. This also forces our opinions into 2nd place and the other person’s to the first in line position and this is the exactly spot desires to be in our lives.
When I was a child my parents said that I was fast as lightning and it was very hard for someone to catch me when they were playing a game that required running or any other time for that matter J Anyone playing a game that involves running or hiding knows that it takes a quick mind to get from one place to another and seek the best hiding place. Many ideas run through our minds thinking of how and where that place is and wonder who else might be thinking of the same hiding spot. This tells us about our mind and the capacity it has about storing information and then processing that information at that same pace. So, this is another example of why our mind’s capability would be used against us if the situation arose.
Being still is a trait that we humans really have to think about before it can be achieved and what is even funnier is that most of us have to stop and think about how to define those words. Society has trained us to think rapidly and to try and get as much done before the day is done. Our sleep patterns are have been governed by what hour we must rise to make it to work on time which proves that our hectic lifestyle has infiltrated the quiet time our bodies so much deserves. We claim that newly developed technology has been made ready to analyze our sleep patterns so that better sleeping conditions may be achieved but one must question these procedures when they were not necessary when our lives were much simpler.
I have been in many emergency medical situations over my twenty five plus years and I can say that even the emergency room staff is more confident in their duties when the physician is even tempered and displays a unique demeanor about the situation. At any given time during these situations things can go wrong that may or may not be directly related to the patient but being calm and poised acts as a calming agent for the entire room and better medical care is delivered which is re-assuring to the staff and for others that might be observing. I have been trained over the years to keep a level head, know my surroundings, to multitask and to complete many things at once all while performing my job with the utmost precision and professionalism. Now, can you get a better example of our modern society?
Another good example of not being still comes to mind that directly involves me. God likes to wake me up some nights and simply asks me to pray. I begin to ask Him what am I praying about and then when I do not receive an answer quickly my mind takes over and thinks of many lines of possible things to pray about. It is like I am trying to force God to tell me in my time and on my terms which include a possibility of me have the right to say “I knew what God wanted all along”. Then, after a while of struggling with God and wondering why He has not said anything else, it dawns on me that I should just shut up and be still and do what He asked me to do in the first place. At this time I have no idea of what I am praying about and in reality it is none of my business at the time, He just wants me to listen to Him and what He is saying to me at the time.
How many times have we been sitting around and trying to concentrate on a single item and we get interrupted and then when we are able to return to the item our thoughts are gone. I have this scenario occur during my writing and I have learned, the hard way, to write something down when God gives me topics before I leave the area because if I do not, it is gone and then the pathetic process of me trying to remember what the words were and then begging God to remind me ensues.
In these times of worldly chaos, it is important that we learn to listen to God’s one voice while we are living in the world. The lifestyle of this planet will not slow down at all, in fact it will only increase its speed until time actually means nothing to man. We are beginning to see this in our world today with all of the communication skills that are available, so if you stop and think about it…..it only seems natural that things of the world would become faster. The world’s pace is a planned phenomenon that provides a continual infrastructure that is designed to drain our lives in a fashion that we do not even realize the process is proceeding; and when we reach this point, it is only a matter of time until we stop thinking for ourselves and begin to run with the crowd and then justify the path that we are on as life instead of facing the controversy or toughing out the winding path that lays before us.
Over the years when I have been listening to people speak about their experiences with God. One common theme has rang true in which they have said that God speaks to them in a calm, strait forward and quiet voice and His voice to them is never rushed, choppy, timid or shaky in any way. This states that God speaks with a confidence that He does not need to “stoop” to our level to get our attention, since He is Holy and does not make mistakes it is us that needs to rise to the occasion and listen for His voice on His frequency.
If we do not grasp this concept of being still and know, we will surely miss out on the voice of God and the direction that He has for us. It is imperative that we place this concept into our “forebrains” and constantly work on keeping it there. When this concept is located in the back of our thinking the answers that God gives the other voices an opportunity to cloud our way before the answer is revealed to us.
Let us take the portion of that phrase “and know”. This portion of that phrase is actually my favorite since it has the answer to the question that has been asked by myself. Be still and know….for what? I must have asked a question at some point in time for me to actually have to put this phrase into motion because if I did not have a question then I would not be in need of the phrase in the first place. How re-assuring it is to be able to have an informative answer that you know will help in the time of need. These are the fruitful answers that we will receive when we do hear that one voice.
I realize that this phrase that I have used has come from a passage of scripture in the Bible and that there is a third part to this verse; however I am not focusing on the third part of this phrase in this message. When you read the entire passage of scripture it paints an entire view of what happens when these three things occur. The first part of the phrase “be still” refers to an act that we have to complete before we can receive the answer to the question, which refers to the second part of the phrase “and know” and then the third part of the phrase proclaims that God will be exalted in the completion of the phrase.
Once we learn to use this phrase in our daily lives, it becomes easier to know God’s voice in hearing the answers we desire. He might not always speak to us directly, but He has ways of letting us know His answer in conversation with our friends and family. This topic is a good thing for us to engage when split second decisions have to be made in our lives. The emergency setting example used above along with countless other examples has been proven over and over that a person who stays calm makes better decisions that a person who is rash when these circumstances occur. The calm mind in its ability to relay information to the body and at the same time assure everyone around that the decision being made is a quality one, which will be easier to follow if needed. The ability to make clear and precise decisions will become standard form in our lives when we place God first in our lives and listen to His council on a continual basis.
What a wonderful way to continue the restoration process by accepting this concept of being still and knowing. This phrase actually reinforces our relationship with God and allows the connection with God to be strengthened. God’s Kingdom is advanced even when we make a decision that is guided by God and we all know that if God’s Kingdom is advanced in any way, the other kingdom is pushed back. So even the questions that you raise, and it does not matter if they are money questions, spiritual questions, directional questions, or any other questions that you may have, restoration is automatically acquired after we are still, and knowing.
DLB
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