Shhhhhh!! Be Still.
It’s hard to slow the pounding heart down at midnight in anticipation of the busy day tomorrow. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn a new day begins and there are so many things to be done. You hope something does not fall between the cracks. It seems like you are spinning too many plates and juggling too many balls. Have you ever worried that it is all going to catch up with you and crash down upon you? What would you do if you didn’t have reminders built into your electronic gadgets?
How long can you continue at this pace? To make matters worse, you are suffering from guilt thinking that you are trying to do so many things you’re not doing justice to anything? A quick glance at your calendar for the rest of the week and the entire month is rather disheartening as well – because the pace doesn’t slacken up one little bit. It’s brutal. How did life get so busy? And those are just the things that ‘have’ to be done. Nagging in the back of your mind are tons of other things that you ‘should’ be doing.
Then there is the other type of frantic activity – the activity of the mind when it’s in distress and trouble. When it should be focused on other things, it repeatedly resorts to worry and fear. The future seems bleak; the obstacles far out number the opportunities. The threats are many and the fears are great. The mind is racing with dead-end scenarios and waves of sickening feelings sweep over you. You are swamped.
Yes, swamped….until you open your Bible and read Psalm 46. True, it pertains to Jerusalem in the past and to the nation of Israel in the future when it’s surrounded and threatened by its enemies, but what God can do for an entire nation He is able to do for you – one Christian. If He has enough resources to save and protect a nation and conquer victoriously, then why should you, just one believer ever despair?
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
Be still, and know that I am God:”
(Psalm 46:1-3,10)
Be still. Relax your tense shoulders. Stop trying to figure it out. No more fretting. Fold your hands. Calm down. Be still. Take ten deep breaths. Stop racing your mind through the hoops. Shhhh….quieten down. God says: “Let be – be still. Watch Me. Keep your eyes on Me. You will know that I am still on the Throne! I am God. Leave it with me.”
The hardest thing to do when you are in a panic is to ‘stop’. It’s hard to just be still. But until we stop and get alone in His presence and pour out our hearts to Him and allow His Words to direct our minds and comfort our hearts and reassure our spirits, we’ll be in turmoil and anxiety.
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay
peter@heaven4sure.com