“Be still!”  Smile … how many times have we told that to our children or to others who couldn’t seem to sit still or BE still!

It is not easy for me to be still.  Oh, I can sit and read a book, watch TV, or sit in a car or plane, but I don’t like to be inactive for long.  I’m a “to-do” kind of person.  I have my list and feel accomplished when it’s done.  

I’m not a good sleeper (thank you menopause!).  I can hardly keep my eyes open by bedtime and many times as soon as I get in bed the brain kicks in at about 100 miles per hour!

Such was the case tonight so up I got … couldn’t really concentrate on my Bible, didn’t want to read a book, didn’t want to spend time on the computer, didn’t want to wander around the house so finally went back to bed.  As I lay down the song began to play in my brain … “Be still and know that I am God, be still and know that I am God, be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:1, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

It hit me … do I really know how to “be still”?  Being still isn’t keeping your thumbs from twirling, feet from bouncing, or sitting in a chair without moving a limb!  “Be still” … stop the mind from wandering, keep centered on God and His Word, stop striving, relax.  It’s meditating on His Word, listening for Him to speak to me. Be settled, be calm because we can TRUST GOD.

It’s not easy to be still!  We are prone to be active, to control our environment, to “be in charge”.  But God is saying, … “Be still and KNOW that I. AM. God.!”  

The only way I see of “knowing” is “knowing” Him!  How do we “know” Him?

How do you come to know anybody?  By spending time with them!  Talking with them, listening to them, interacting with them … and it is the same with our heavenly Father.  It’s not enough just to know about Him … but KNOW Him!

I’ve read about Queen Elizabeth, President Trump, and other world leaders and famous people.  I know about them but I have never met them or interacted with them so I don’t “know” them.

So in the stillness that God is calling us to He wants us to KNOW Him and that He IS God.

As I lay in bed and concentrated on that thought another verse about Him came to mind.  We are in the midst of a never before pandemic.  Folks are scared, we are sheltered in place, we feel locked up and death abounds.  Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.”

I’ve always told myself that when faced with circumstances that could lead to death or any kind of a serious valley, I would want to RUN through it … not walk!  Also, it’s walking THROUGH a shadow!  A shadow is not the real thing!

At the beginning of this pandemic, I told my husband I had no fear … and I still don’t but I feel it creeping in after so many weeks and further sheltering along with face masks.

So how should we handle fear of this unknown “thing”?  Back up to Psalm 46:1 … “Be still”, listen for His voice, quiet our emotions and scary thoughts, and “know”, be assured of, that HE IS GOD! 

He will be in the furnace with us and deliver us … BUT IF NOT … we can still trust Him because our greatest deliverance will be when we are with Him for eternity!  The three Hebrew young men were not doubting with that statement … they were stating the fact that no matter what happened they knew that God was with them.

Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”

Connie Haus (I wrote this in 2020 but never posted it until now)