“Be Still And Know That I Am God”

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We live in a fast-paced digital world. Our phones constantly ding with texts and notifications. We struggle through overbooked schedules never taking time to sit still.

When we do sit still, we open up an app and scroll through the feeds. What does that do to our inner life? Do we have any depth anymore?

We need the time out of the daily rat race to work on the foundation and internal structure. Our ability to deal with the outer life is based on our inner life. We need to stop and rest.

Jesus did, and a student isn’t better than their teacher. He rested. He would go off to be alone with God.

As fast-paced as our lives are, we should take time to be alone with our thoughts. To be still. I’m not good at being still.

I read multiple books at a time. Multi-task while driving by listening to educational podcasts. If I stop, I feel like I should be doing something. For example, I’m typing this while on break at work.

Dallas Willard wrote in The Spirit Of The Disciplines,

“The need for extensive practice of a given discipline is an indication of our weakness, not our strength. We can lay it down as a rule of thumb that if it is easy for us to engage in a certain discipline, we probably don’t need to practice it. The disciplines we need to practice are precisely the ones we’re not “good at” and hence do not enjoy.”

I love to be alone, so instead of solitude, I have to get out. I can’t sit still, so I have to be still. I don’t rest well, so I have to Sabbath rest. No work, no podcasts, no nonfiction books. Music is fine, but generally, I drive in silence.

I spend ten minutes a day sitting in stillness. After a few deep breaths, I scan through my

body to see what hurts, what feeling is present, and my intent for sitting there.

For me, I quote Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” I remind myself that I am not God. He doesn’t need me to fix everything.

God uses me, but everything doesn’t depend on me. I imagine that I’m just sitting with Jesus. No work, nor conversation even: just sitting there in his presence.

He’s holding everything together (Col. 1:15-17).

Take time out of your day and just be still if that’s your struggle. Leave the rat race for a few minutes and remember who is God and who isn’t. Remember that God has you in His hand. You’ll be okay.