Be Still. Or Else

God says, ‘be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46.10).

 We try to live noisy lives, rushing about and cramming our time, minds and diaries with all that we can. We assume God-like status, and we presume that the world will be all the richer for our God-like abilities.

Some hope! All that we discover is that we aren’t God. And the worse tragedy is that we fail to discover who is. 

More than anything, we need to learn to bow before the Sovereign Lord. We need to feel the nearness of His Holy Presence in Christ, and we need to learn to have a childlike trust in His Sovereign Will and Goodness. His Name, His Kingdom, His Will must be the sum of our joy and our desires.

I’m about to hurl myself into a busy day, preparing sermons, meeting with people, leading a cross-cultural wedding, and attempting a bit of parenting after hours. I could feel burdened and anxious at all that I face. Or I could take some moments now to be still. My Father in heaven has the day covered, and His grace will more than cover my needs. I need to be still, and realise Who He is in the Gospel. Only then can I live with a steady hope and a sure ambition.

Enjoy these reflections from Jonathan Edwards:

“In that he is God, he is worthy to be sovereign over all things. Sometimes men are the owners of more than they are worthy of. But God is not only the owner of the whole world, as all is from and dependent on him; but such is his perfection, the excellency and dignity of his nature, that he is worthy of sovereignty over all. No man ought in the temper of his mind to be opposite to God's exercising the sovereignty of the universe, as if he were not worthy of it; for to be the absolute sovereign of the universe is not a glory or dignity too great for him. All things in heaven and earth, angels and men, are nothing in comparison with him; all are as the drop of the bucket, and as the light dust of the balance. It is therefore fit that everything should be in his hands, to be disposed of according to his pleasure.—His will and pleasure are of infinitely greater importance than the will of creatures. It is fit that his will should take place, though contrary to the will of all other beings; that he should make himself his own end; and order all things for himself.—God is possessed of such perfections and excellencies as to qualify him to be the absolute sovereign of the world.—Certainly it is more fit that all things be under the guidance of a perfect unerring wisdom, than that they should be left to themselves to fall in confusion, or be brought to pass by blind causes. Yea, it is not fit that any affairs within the government of God should be left without the direction of his wise providence; least of all, things of the greatest importance.”

 Jonathan Edwards, Sermon on Psalm 46.10, June 1735