Remaining Calm in Chaos
“Be still and KNOW I am God” (Psalms 46:10)
Being still is not something we do very well……
If I were to take this verse and wrap it with the rest of chapter 46 and put it in photograph or print form, it would look like the framed picture in my office at the church. It pictures a huge fortress-like lighthouse stately standing among the shore with rocks and boulders surrounded by a furious and raging storm battering the structure with sea foam waves and spray, and a thunderous pounding. There is a towering wave above it ready to completely engulf and obliterate the structure.
On the shore side of the lighthouse is a chain link gate slightly open with the lighthouse keeper standing just on the inside of it completely still, safe, and unharmed with not as much as a hair out of place. He is calm with pending danger all around him. Amazing!
Another interesting note is that Martin Luther, the reformer of the church, wrote the famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God” based on Psalms 46.
If you read Psalms 46 closely and carefully you will see three recurring themes:
Complete Chaos, God’s Control, and A Peaceful Man.
Complete Chaos:
vs.2-3 … “Though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam and the mountains quake”
vs.6… “Nations rage and kingdoms fall”
God’s Control:
vs.1… “God is our refuge and strength a very present help in times of trouble”
vs.7… “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Fortress.”
vs.11… “The Lord of host is with us; the God of Jacob is out Fortress”
vs.10... “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Complete Peace:
vs.2… “Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way.”
vs.10… “Be still and know that I am God.”
Why is being still before God, when the storm rages in our life so difficult to do?
· We are Impatient by nature (especially in America).
· We have an insatiable Need to be in Control.
· We frequently Lack Trust in God’s Ability to be at work in our lives and world.
However, according to the Psalmist, there seems to be a connection between “Stillness and Knowing God.”
If we could somehow see our stormy circumstances from Gods perspective, which takes the eye of faith, and KNOW that God is in control at all times we would have a still mind and a peaceful heart.
For all who are reading this “Being still and knowing He is God” means different things to different people based on your particular trial. What does it mean to you right now?
To me it means not to think the worst, try to take matters into my own hands, panic as if things are not going to work out, surrender my chaos to His control, be at peace with his providence and knowledge realizing He doesn’t make mistakes, and have hope that whatever storm I find myself in it “too shall pass”.
I heard a story told by Pastor Chuck Swindoll the other day about a fishing trip his father took him on one morning when he was 10 years old. The lake was like glass in the early hours of the dawn. His father kept saying to his fidgety boy as they headed for the deepest pool in the lake, “son be very quiet and sit still”. Again and again he would whisper son “sit still”. Then his father explained “we need to be quiet because there is big stuff down there.”
As we take our time to calm our hearts before the Lord there is “big and deep stuff” we can learn and hear from Him, but we have to be still and know that He is God.
What is the Lord doing in your heart today? What is He after inside of you? What does He want you to do with the uncertainty you feel? What does He want you to know about Him right now? How can you be still and know that He is God?
I agree with Martin Luther’s Hymn, the French Photographer print and Psalms 46, A Mighty Fortress is our God!
(The photograph was taken by a French photographer of one of the worst recorded storms in history on the Northern Coast of France).
Bill Gallagher
