Be Still
By Peggy Kleckner
“The LORD will
fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus
14:14 (NIV)
Still: without sound;
silent; not moving; tranquil, calm (Webster’s
New World Dictionary)
What
battle is raging in your life at present? In the lives of those around you?
What fear is tapping incessantly on your shoulder or nipping at your heels?
What chaos is threatening to overwhelm you?
What concern dogs your every moment?
How
do we be “still” in the midst?
While
the words of Exodus 14 were spoken by Moses to the Israelites, I believe there
is a beautiful principle for us, as well. This verse says that the LORD will
fight for us, and it also gives us our instruction, “be still.” Why are we so
willing to try and do the LORD’s part but fail to practice our part?
We,
as believers, seem to be willing to do, to go, to take up, to take on, but we
are not very willing to be still. Stillness feels unproductive. Keyword in that
sentence: feels.
I
think God would be pleased to see us lay down our doing and come before Him in
stillness. He would delight to have us step away from our doing, to lay aside
our pleading and to get quiet, to get comfortable, in His presence. Certainly
lay before Him our concerns, but then just be still with Him. Give Him the gift
of our time and our presence and accept the same from Him. Time set aside to
let Him search our heart and for us to search His.
There
is a time for doing, but not until after we have become still before Him.
Stillness denotes trust. We aren’t still when we don’t feel safe. We must learn
to feel safe in Him. It is to Him that we surrender our all, not to our enemy.
It is to Him that we bring our time and our efforts. It is Him that we seek for
counsel, protection, direction, fellowship, love. He is the answer that we
seek.
To
be still in the midst of our present chaos is to have practiced being still in
the midst of all of our other days. We must be like a batter who can hit when
the crowd is booing or cheering, because he has practiced when no one was
watching.
Practice: to do or engage in
frequently; make a habit of, to do repeatedly so as to become proficient
May
we each spend time practicing our part: stillness, so as to better trust Him to
do His part: fight for us.
GOING DEEPER:
1 Will you come and sit before Him long enough
to become still?
2. Can you
let go of your painful circumstance and trust that He will fight for you?
FURTHER READING:
Peggy is a wife and
mother of four adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an active
encourager at Oakwood
Church in Delafield.
