Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Be Still
By Peggy Kleckner

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

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.