November 22
Still
It seems like the older I get, the more I have these mornings where I wake up at 4 or 5 AM and my mind is racing. Usually, I can’t go back to sleep. Sometimes, I will lay there and try to sort out the 10 million things that are racing through my mind. Of course, this usually just makes things worse and I lay there frustrated.
Awhile back, it occurred to me that maybe God is waking me up because He wants to talk. Honestly, I would rather talk at 6 AM, but who am I to tell God that I won’t talk to Him at 4 or 5AM. Well, this morning at 5:12 AM, God and I talked.
While I was talking to God, asking Him to calm my mind and my spirit, He brought to mind a lesson that I taught to our Stephen’s Ministers the other night at Tuesday Night Life on the word “still.”
There are times, like this morning, that I simply need God to help me to be still.
There are several places in Scripture where God uses the word “still.” When Job questioned God and was ready to throw in the towel, his friend Elihu told him to stand still and admire God.
Have you ever had uncertainty or doubt? God tells us in Psalm 46 to “be still and to know that He is God.” In other words, chill out and let Him fix things.
My favorite “still” moment in the Bible occurs in Mark 4. Jesus and His disciples are out on the lake and they get caught in a huge storm. Jesus is sleeping at the back of the boat. The disciples wake Jesus up. They are scared to death that they are going to drown. I love Jesus’ words – Peace Be Still.
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with your circumstances that you feel like you are going to drown? I love Jesus’ words…”peace be still.” The Word says, immediately the winds stop and there was a great calm. Have you ever needed a “great calm?”
What kind of “still” do you need in your life this morning? Ask Him to bring stillness to your heart and mind.
Below are five different places where the word “still” is used Scripture. They all have different meanings. I’ve needed every one of these at different times in my life. I hope one of these will encourage you.
1. There are times when we don’t understand what God is doing in our life. We need to stand still and admire God.
Job 37:14 (KJV) – 14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Hebrew – amad, aw-mad’; to stand,
2. There are times we can get angry and want to sin. We need to quiet our Spirits.
Psalms 4:4 (NKJV) – 4 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
Hebrew – damam, daw-mam’; to be dumb, to be astonished, to stop
3. There are troubling times when we need God to lead us to rest and restoration.
Psalms 23:2 (KJV) – 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Still = menuwchah, men-oo-khaw’; repose, peacefully; consolation, an abode, a resting place.
4. There are times when there is uncertainty and doubt in our life. We need to trust God to fix things.
Psalms 46:10 (NIV) – 10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Still = rapha’, raw-faw’; or raphah, to mend (by stitching), to cure, to make whole.
5. There are times when we are overwhelmed by a storm. We need God to bring peace to a situation
Mark 4:39 (KJV) – 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Still = phimoo, fee-mo’-o; (a muzzle); to muzzle