There is a place of bliss and peace I remember going to when I was busy nurturing a fussy baby. When your infant is crying frantically and you pick them up onto your shoulder and you both snuggle in to soothe, it gets amazingly peaceful – you feel you could stay there forever. An oasis in your busy day, this comfort routine proves more complicated as children get older but works wonders when they’re little. At first, you voice your reassurance, which turns into the shushing refrain: Shhh, shhh, shhh and then, stillness.
The Lord’s comfort is like that. Now, in a different life season, He shushes me with His word, “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) At first, I try to voice a prayer (or even a complaint about tiredness or business) until I hear Him again, “Be still…” Shhhh. It’s in our silence that He quiets our heart. In our silence, He can speak words of comfort and peace. When we abandon our struggle to be heard, to help with His plan, to do “one more thing” to find favor, He says again, “Be still and know…” Know His plan is good, His presence is constant, His love covers everything. Shhhhhh – we can relax. He is God.”
Stop striving, let go, surrender and, my favorite SINK DOWN. These definitions of “be still” are from the Hebrew. There are times we are to be doing things, as God directs. There are also times when we just need to stop – lean against that shoulder, snuggle in, let our shoulders sink down, and relax in His peace. We can “enter into His rest…” (Hebrews 4:10.)
By: Nan Robertson
~ Christ Fellowship