The psalmist, in Psalm 46, tells us to be still and to know that he is God. This is so difficult for us in our lives of constant activity. We are constantly buzzing around trying to perfect ourselves, or our children, to death. From one activity to another we bounce with the good intention of being the person we think we are or who we desire to be, or maybe even the person who we think God wants us to be. 

I wonder if the person that God wants us to be is the person that stops. The person that stops from the persistent process of perfectionism and allows the presence of the LORD God Almighty to penetrate our hearts and lives. To be still. Just for a brief moment.

As you are reading this, put the phone down or turn off the monitor and:

“Be still and know that he is God”.

That is hard to do, even for a brief moment. This is something I struggle with mightily. When I am still my mind quickly darts from topic to topic. From the things I need to do or things I have not done yet. My mind goes from excitement to despair all in one breath. But there are times when the stillness of life is comforting.

I was able to have an extended time in that place of comfort last week. Sitting on the beach and listening. There were few people on the beach, and I was able to listen to the waves, one after another, fall harmlessly upon the shore. I was able to see the pelicans swoop into the water and come up with breakfast. I was able to see the clouds as they rolled across the canopy of the earth. I was able to see children playing in the water and laughing at the revelation of salt water on their toes for the first time. I was able to be still and know that there is something bigger than myself, my family and even our church. 

I was able to see and hear and experience the reality of the LORD’s majesty. As I sat, and got way too sunburned, Jeremiah 5 entered my thoughts:

22 “Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.

    Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,

    a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

    though they roar, they cannot pass over it”.

The context of the verse is that the people of Israel have not been quick to repent. They have done evil in the sight of the LORD. Now, through the prophet, the LORD wants the people to be still and know that he is God. The LORD literally wants them to look at the waves on the beach and understand his power, his majesty, his strength and marvel. As powerful and as scary as the ocean can be (as we have seen even this week with a hurricane ripping apart the Texas Gulf Coast) it is in the palm of the LORD God. He tells the waves to crash on the beach. He tells the water to be still – and it listens.

If you find yourself disconnected from God or from others this week heed the words of the Psalmist and simply quiet the noise and fill your mind with the waves as they fall onto the sand. Gaze upon the purple mountains majesty. Quiet the noise, be still, and know again, with the joy of a young child dipping his toes in the salt water for the first time, that the LORD is God, that he will be exalted among the nations.

My friends, depart with the words of Jesus on your heart:

Matthew 6: 25 – 26; 33

25 “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.