Be Present: Be Still by Marland May

Be Still! I’ve said it a thousand times, and heard it ten thousands times over, maybe you have too. To the restless teenagers kicking the back of your seat on the airplane, to the fidgety toddler in the pew next to you at church, to the nervous college student before a presentation, to anxious father before his baby is born. How hard is it to be still while the world swirls around you.

Be Still…

--Psalms 46:10a [NIV]

Why does GOD ask us to freeze? Perhaps because you have been fighting for yourself, by yourself too long. Maybe you have exceeded the recommended heart rate max for Christian anxiety, and GOD is pleading with you to slow the pace.  Danger might be lurking around the corner and only stillness will allow you to escape death.

The context of Psalm 46, Israel had been engaged in a long battle with their arch-nemesis, the Assyrians.  Their evil warlord, Sennacherib, had plundered nations all around Israel. When he laid siege to Jerusalem it was physically, mental, and spiritually warfare. He would yell from outside the city not to trust in GOD.

“The only salvation you have is to come out and surrender to me,” Sennacherib would yell. 

Once the food and water rations started to dwindle and paranoia crept up their spine, where did their trust go?  Where would yours have gone?

Maybe you don’t have to wonder because you already know. It’s quite possible that you have already encountered your modern day Sennacherib and his Assyrians. They have taken out the communication towers, and you’ve been left feeling helpless and alone. The “mayday” has been going out, but help hasn’t come yet.   

When Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, felt out numbered and alone, he wrote the song “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” using Psalm 46 as his inspiration.  It’s not till verse 10 where everything beings to make sense.

Israel, Martin Luther, you and me, we all have our Sennacherib’s outside of our fortress yelling for us to give up or give in. The circumstances appear impossible to overcome, we are in a checkmate and we can feel as if the end is in sight. 

We want to run, but GOD says, “be still.”

We want to give up, but GOD says, “be still.” 

We want to quit, but GOD says, “be still.”

Our human response is “fight or flight,” however may I suggest a third option. When a person is walking through the wilderness and cross paths with wild life, whether it’s a snake, tiger, or bear, the best option they have of survival is stillness. Anxiety beckons us to flee.  Fear enflames us to fight. GOD admonishes us to be still.

In the stillness you know GOD. How do I know? The enemy is still outside the city.  The animal has not yet attacked. GOD’s fortress has not been breached!

Israel’s response to Sennacherib was, silence. Be still! When you let go of becoming your own savior, GOD obliterates the enemy. Stillness affords knowledge, clarity, and spiritual sight. Instead of seeing the impossible around us, our eyes are opened to witness GOD in our midst. Although under siege we can confide in GOD and find confidence. He allows us to exhale in peace because we know that we are protected by His love, His strong and mighty hand. Our stillness exalts GOD, expressing our complete reliance in His power and protection.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

--Psalm 46:10-11 [NIV]

May you experience the might of our Lord in the stillness.  May you rely on Him no matter what troubles attempt to take siege of your life today. Be still and encounter GOD.

Encounter Prayer:

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging. Amen.

--Psalm 46:1-3 [NIV]

Encounter:

• What problems, issues, or worries threaten to take siege of my life today?
• What has been my typical, human response in the past?
• How might I enact GOD’s call to stillness in the midst of today’s situation?

Devotional contributed by Marland May of Younger Generation Church.  Posted by A. Allan Martin by permission.