Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

THE STILL

On many British vessels when disaster strikes, "the still" is sounded. This signals people to pause a moment and figure out the wise thing to do. Panic, sailors feel, can be avoided if "the still" is observed. God gives us similar advice. Rather than panicking when crisis comes, we are to be still, and know that I am God... Perhaps that could be paraphrased, "Just don't be frightened; see how I can help you in this trying situation." The wise believer will learn to observe "the still" in times of tension.

If we are still only in times of trial, we miss much of what God is trying to say to us. We feel we do not have time to be still, but a University of Wisconsin study revealed that the average person spends three years of life waiting. How we use that time will determine much of our future. The wise person will use it to get to know God better, and he also will seek to get alone and listen to the quiet voice of the Creator.

Poems are not written on busy street corners, and symphonies are not composed in crowds. Aloneness is necessary for creativity and spiritual growth. So often we are spiritual chatterboxes when we come to the closet of prayer. How well it would be to learn to listen in those quiet moments, and know that I am God. Psalm 46 also states that "the heathen raged." How often we rage at this and that; how much better if we would listen to God. Let us relax and know Him. Be still and learn to love Him better.