January 22, 2010 - Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God!"

Of all the exhortations in the Bible, this is one I find the most difficult. Be still? Doesn't God know how much stuff I have to do? I don't have time to be still!

Um...hello? Here's the deal. God isn't a shouter. God is a gentleman. God doesn't grab you by the ear and shriek into it. God whispers. And if you're not quiet, it's awfully difficult to hear Him. If I'm spending my days and evenings doing, doing, doing...when do I have time to listen to God? When do I stop long enough to hear what He is saying to me?

Do you remember the story of Elijah? (Read 1 Kings, chapter 19) Elijah ran away from Jezebel who was out to kill him and hid in a cave. There was a great wind, and an earthquake and a fire, but God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. God was in the stillness. So it is with me. I am so busy paying attention to the heavy winds that lash against my soul I'm not still long long enough to hear the voice of God.

As much as I love traditional churches, and the worship and the singing and the sermons...there is something to be said for an unprogrammed Quaker meeting too. It is in the stillness that God speaks. My job is to stop what I'm doing long enough to hear His voice.