Be Still

          Regardless of the chaos that swirls through this world in which we live, God’s name will be glorified in the heavens and the earth. Sometimes that’s easy to forget—especially when we focus on our circumstances and the events going on in the world instead of Him. Psalm 46 reminds us to “cease striving and know that [He] is God” (NASB), and that He will be exalted among the nations of the earth. The same verse in the New International Version reads a little differently; it says, “Be still and know that I am God.” This is a command to rest in His strength and not our own. (OH, how often I forget this!) When we continue to struggle in our own limited power, frustration is present and peace is absent. Our struggles are futile and what we can accomplish is miniscule compared to what God can do if we simply rest in His mighty power. God tells Paul in II Corinthians 12:9 that His grace is “sufficient” for him because His “power is perfected in weakness.”  It is especially hard to be still when we see our weakness through the eyes of our world.  In our culture weakness is despised, but in God’s economy, it shows a precious reliance on His strength and plans for us. Americans are a proud people who are getting farther and farther away from a God who values humility. Throughout the Bible, God makes it obvious over and again that He resists the proud and is drawn to the humble (see James 4:6). When we choose to depend on our strength over His and we continue to struggle, we are in fact pushing away from God, and what Christian in his or her right mind would want to disconnect from our only source of power? The next time the winds of chaos swirl around us, let’s remember like David did where our salvation comes from and pray, “Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be above all the earth” (Psalm 57:6). Be still.