Heart Tracks - Be Still

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.....Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:1-2,10

In my last writing, I spoke of how we must respond to our circumstances when "hell breaks loose." I wrote that we need to see beyond that which is breaking loose into the sure promise and reality of heaven breaking into the midst of it all. I expect that some read that and said that, sure, they believe it, but how are they to live it? I understand. Too often the church can give "pat answers" to very complicated questions. To walk in victory in the midst of tumultuous circumstances and events requires a spiritual discipline that is alien to our flesh. It also requires the settling of the issue of in what, and who, we are going to place our trust? Psalm 46 tells us that "God is our refuge and strength. Those are just words if we have not settled the question of whether that is true or not. A great part of the settling of that will take place when we choose, by His grace and power, to be still, in Him, that we might know, by experience, that He is God.

In my prayer journal, concerning this verse, I've written, "May I, in my deepest time of need, be still, and know the reality that He alone is God." That can only happen in one way. I have to remain still in my emotions, my mind, and my heart. I have to choose to focus upon Him, and upon all that He has said and promised me that He is. I have to refuse to give in to every suggestion and accusation hurled at me from the enemy that He is none of these and that I have to "do something" to overcome the problem(s). Doing this requires that I know just what it is that He's said of Himself, and what He has promised to be for me. It also requires that I am living in an up to date spiritual experience in Him. I can't be living in rebellion in some part of my life. My will needs to be yielded to His. Wherever we are living outside of His will, we're vulnerable to all the onslaughts of the enemy and the circumstances he works through. But when we are living in obedience and trust, every square inch of ground around us may be sinking sand and shattered by earthquakes, but the ground we stand on is His. It is holy ground and it cannot be shaken. And so, we cannot be shaken.

When such is our life, we can be still. We can be unshaken. And we can know, by our experience, that He is God. Therefore, we can rest in Him. Turmoil may reign all around us, His peace reigns within us. Psalm 46 is not just good words and a nice promises. It becomes our living testimony. To what extend is it yours and mine?

In these ever changing, ever more threatening times, we must cling to the reality of not only His promises, but to Him. When we do, we can be still. We can be victorious. We can, and will, know that He is God. Is that your testimony? If not, are you ready that it would be?

Blessings,
Pastor O