be still

Be still.
Be quiet.
Be silent.
Stop moving.
Stop fighting.
Stop ignoring.

God keeps bringing me back to Psalm 46.  I cannot tell you how many times I have read it in the last month, but it has been pert near every day.

But why?  Why does He keep making me read this.  It has consumed my devotions.  It has consumed my mind.  I think of it as I go to sleep, and it is still there when I wake up.  Why?

Because I am not good at being still.  I cannot sit still most of the time.  I struggle to still my mind.  He wants my attention - when I read, when I pray, throughout my day - but I struggle to stop thinking of conversations, details, scenarios.  My mind drifts to things that make me happy, things that make me sad, people that make me angry, and what I want to do about all of those things.

I need to be still.  I need silence.  I need solace.
I need to empty my mind, so I can empty my heart to Him.
I need to stop talking to God, so I can listen to Him.
I need to cast all of my cares on Him.
That means no more worrying about finances, no more worrying about defending myself, no more worrying about what others do.  I can't waste another minute on the things I cannot control.  Whatever is nagging at me belongs to Him.  The less time I spend worrying, the more time I can spend accomplishing the things God wants me to do.

Be still.  Be silent.  Listen and hear.  Watch and see.

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. ^[a]

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

⁸ Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹ He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields ^[b] with fire.

¹⁰ "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=rEnriY1sg6U]