Being Still and Knowing God

Friday 2/13/2015 4:56 AM

My reading today includes the familiar words of Psalm 46:10, “He says, ‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’” I also read Luke 4:33-35 as part of my assigned scripture today. “In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ‘Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!’ ‘Be quiet!’ Jesus said sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.”

Both of these verses entail being quiet and recognizing that God is God. Psalm 46 is an invitation to quiet oneself down and to meditate upon the nature of God. The passage in Luke 4 seems more like a command, almost like one is doing something against one’s will. The outcome of both situations is the same; God is recognized for who he is.

I have a feeling that God is constantly inviting me into quiet solitude. If I accept his invitation he reveals his nature to me and whispers words of love to me and gives direction to my life. If I decline the invitation, God will still be exalted in the earth but he has to use adverse or unpleasant circumstances to stop me in my tracks and get me to recognize that I am not in control of things in my life, God is still God.

The choice seems to be mine. Do I willingly stop the busyness in my life so that I can hear God’s gentle whisper, inviting me into an intimacy with him that reveals his nature and will to me, or do I continue running pell-mell through life until some adversity strikes that forces me to stop and consider who God is? Both paths lead to the same result but one path seems more desirable.