Be STill
“And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was no full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, care You not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Mark 4:36-41.
The disciples and those with them were greatly afraid for the stormy wind had driven much water into their boats and they seemed ready to sink. They awoke the Savior and spoke to Him as though He did not care that they were about to sink. Jesus spoke and ordered the storm to cease, the wind to stop blowing, and the waters to become so calm that no wave could be detected in them but they rested quietly with smooth shimmering.
Often in life, the storms of difficulty and peril seem to beat heavily upon us. It seems as though all is lost and there is no way to escape, no way to repair the breaches, no way to smooth out the rough terrain. In all of these times God is standing by ready to bring the needed relief, repair, and rest. Psalm 46:10 tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” What is needed in these times of apparent unbearable stress is for us to simply rest and be still, allowing God to provide the needed relief, the needed repair, the needed supply that calms the storm of life. Many storms there are in life.
The Word of God says, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7. Life is full of trouble. Difficulties are around every corner. Yet for every difficulty that life brings God has an answer. Those that know the Savior can be certain that God is fully aware of their hardships and has that which is needed just waiting for them to claim. David writes, “You know my down sitting and my uprising, You understand my thought afar off. You compass my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have beset me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from Your Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:2-7. God is always there and He always knows long before the circumstances of life arrive having made ready the full remedy for whatever it is that besets us.
We simply need to ask for what is needed. God knows our need and has the answer waiting for us if we would but simply ask. Jesus explains, “Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8. Jesus then tells His disciples how to pray. God is greatly pleased when we have a need and take time to pray and ask Him for that need. There simply is the need to trust in God for He greatly loves us. Let not the turmoil of life upset. Be still and allow God to show you the solution or meet that need. God the Father delights in fulfilling the needs of His children.
When we have yielded our lives to the Savior and we seem uncertain about what God would have us do in certain times, then we must be still. Hearing from God requires total stillness. Elijah found this out as he had run from what appeared to him the sure end of his life by the hand of Jezebel. Elijah had run all the way to Mount Horeb in an effort to escape the hand of Jezebel. God spoke to Elijah with, “And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in the mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What do you here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13. God was in the ‘still small voice.’ To hear God there is great need to be quiet, still.
Galatians 5:25 reads, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” A better translation would be, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” The word being translated here is not peripateo as would be expected with the reading. The word here is stoicheo which with the dative means ‘follow.’ There is a need that we follow the Spirit’s leading when we wish to do the will of God. But like all difficulties in life the answer is always the same. We need to be still before God. We need to quiet all the concerns of life and the voice of the difficulties that we face and come quietly before God to get the answer that we need. God wants us to understand that He is the one in control and that He is fully capable in handling all difficulties. He it is that knows the path that we must take.
In Psalm 46:10 God states, “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” There is no other way to definitively hear God and know what it is He wishes us to do or the path that He would have us go than to first come before Him and be still. Only when all the worries of life, all the input of the flesh, and all the input of the world is put to silence that we are then able to hear the still small voice of God. We must put aside all our concerns and all of our desires if we are to know what God wishes. It is in the doing of His will that true happiness, joy, and peace is found. Let us come before God in full stillness and allow Him to be God.