I have a favorite Bible verse. You may be familiar with it.
Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
After reading it in several translations, including footnotes, I've written it in the margins of all my Bibles like this:
"Be still, cease striving, let go, relax, and know that I am God..."
But there are times, admittedly, when it adamantly reminds me:
SIT STILL, SHUT UP, GET YOUR HANDS OFF IT, BREATHE, AND TRUST GOD TO TAKE CARE OF IT!
There have been many times in my life when I just can't seem to let go and trust God to handle my problems. I want to get in there and manipulate, maneuver, manage the situation toward my ultimate goal - which seldom is without selfish motives. By "selfish" I don't mean with bad intentions. Selfish, in most cases for me means, when you boil it all down, I'm thinking my outcome would far exceed God's purposes. Because, of course, I would plan the final outcome down to the finest detail, fully intact before I would ever step back and "sit still". A true pit of quicksand to be sure! Because once I've stepped in that direction it's hard to turn back.
It can be impossibly difficult to be still when everything around you seems to be shaking and crumbling. I know. I live in earthquake country. What is the first thing most people want to do when the ground begins shaking? RUN! That instinct often leads to a poor choice of direction and more harm than had they stayed put.
Being still is not usually what we want to do. We want to be busy fixing things, making them better. But that is not what God asks of us.
The next phrase in my retranslated verse is "cease striving". The word "strive" is no longer a common word in the English language. If we were to read it as "struggle against, oppose, or resist" it may help. It's natural for us to struggle against, oppose and resist that which is uncomfortable. Our initial and visceral response is to make the situation more comfortable. But here God is asking us to do the opposite of our natural inclinations - don't do anything when we feel like we need to do something! This is not an easy choice to make. It's counter-intuitive; a term I became all too familiar with some years ago.
If you've read my earliest posts, you are aware this blog began as a testament to surviving benzodiazepine withdrawal. If not, you can read the full explanation in My Story. In a nut-shell, for me, the weaning process from this drug caused me to become very sick for a few days following each reduction of the dosage, followed by a relatively "normal" few days, followed by a sudden rapid decline. It was that decline which became the signal for the next reduction. Discussing that pattern with my daughter led her to interject the term counter-intuitive. And she was absolutely right. It was counter-intuitive to do something that would make me feel worse when I was getting worse. But it never failed to be the right thing to do. Just as within the context of this one simple verse of the Bible, God is saying to be still, calm and not to struggle - even though it feels counter-intuitive - because He's got my back. Even though at the time taking that step of faith may feel as if I'm stepping into an endless free-fall, God has promised to be there to catch me. He IS God! He will do the same for you as well.
Next, as if that isn't enough, He asks us to "let go". Our human comprehension screams it's illogical to let go when we don't know what will happen next. We want answers, we want to see what's coming before we "let go". Just try to pry a toy out of the grip of a baby's hand without offering something better - not gonna happen! At least it won't happen without great struggle and loud protest. Isn't that how we respond to God when He's encouraging us to let go of something we've been holding on to? We don't understand how freeing, how healing letting go can be until we've made the exchange because it means trusting Him to supply that which is infinitely better. And what He offers is always SO much better than what we've held on to.
And finally, He wants us to do all of that while relaxed - without stress, completely calm and quietly. As I see it, there is only one way we can possibly do that, and that is to do it with the understanding from the remainder of the verse....KNOWING that He is God. Knowing that HE is greater than anything a "nation" can provide, and greater than anything on "earth". We can choose to look to human resources or the resources of earth but we will do that to our detriment. God, the Creator of it all, is greater than it all. He has the resources to provide for our every need, doing it in a more lavish and generous way than we can imagine. AND, He has promised to do so. We may renege on our promises but God never does. He can't. It's impossible for Him to go against His nature. Is that comforting or what?
So when my world is shaking and about to come apart at the seams, I remind myself to be still, cease striving and struggling, let go and relax, knowing He is God, let Him be God, open my hand and release it giving it to Him - regardless of what "it" is. And as the first verse of the same Psalm says, He will be (as He always is) my place of refuge and my immediate help when I need it. If I don't run, if I don't panic, if I remain calm and still, He will be my help...
Let go of all else...and hold onto Him.
