“Be still, and know that I am God.”
I'm a fixer. I like to find solutions to problems, and I like to find them quickly. So when a difficult circumstance comes my way and I've exhausted all my efforts trying to fix it, I can easily panic at the realization that I have no control.
I just read the other day that for most Americans, our motto is, "Don't just stand there — do something!" But the article went on to say that oftentimes God brings us into situations where we reach the end of ourselves, and He says to us, "Don't just do something — stand there!" Or in the words of Psalm 46:10, "Be still."
Being still in the middle of a trial is so hard, but sometimes we honestly have no other option. And God doesn't just command us to be still and that's the end of it. No, He commands us to be still and know ... know that He is God. It's a command followed by a promise. In other words, the promise that God will be God is the reason why we can be still.
The Hebrew word translated as "be still" in Psalm 46:10 means “to let go,” “to be weak,” and “to relax.” It comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for doctor. But what does relaxing have to do with a physician?
Those of us who aren’t trained in the medical profession go to those who are when we realize we’re facing a health issue beyond our knowledge and well out of our control. We don’t mind relaxing in the hands of a trained professional because we know he or she is much more capable of solving our problem than we are.
In Psalm 46:10, God told the psalmist, who was in the midst of chaos and confusion, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The command to “be still” is not one of indifference; it’s one of complete trust and surrender, which takes active faith. God was essentially saying, “Relax in my sovereign hands and know that I am good, loving, and trustworthy. You’re safe with Me. I have everything under control.”
If you're in a seemingly un-fixable, never-ending trial, and you've done everything you know to do to get out of it, God isn't sitting up on His throne telling you to do more. Instead, He's inviting you to be still — to let go and to relax — and to let Him take care of everything.
Today, choose to release control into the hands of God, knowing He's for you. "If God is for [you], who can be against [you]?" (Romans 8:31).
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