12/30/24
Psalm 46:10 (KJV)
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
(NASB) “[a]Stop striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the [b]nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”
(NIV) He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
This morning while looking at a beautiful Southeast TN sunrise over the mountain ridge, I was reminded of this verse. First of all, I am certainly in trouble with messages from the Lord that tell me to “be still.” I heard that so much of my life, deservingly so. I also heard, “Sit up right” (meaning, in Southern vernacular, “Sit up correctly”). It seems like I preferred to stand on my head or lay on the couch in reverse with my back on the seat and my legs up the back of the couch, or (& my favorites) be spinning in circles or jumping on the trampoline). I have always been (or, at least felt) like a strange kid in that way. Why else would I understand “quirky thinking,” right? Anyway, as you can tell, even my thoughts can’t stay still easily.
I wondered how much trouble I would be in with God if I struggled to be still. My mind, as it so typically does, jumped to another thought quickly. “Does anything stay still?” Is the Earth still? No.
Is my body still? No, never. Every system is dynamic, in perpetual fluctuation to establish a range of expected norms and acceptable movements. Maybe I can again suggest this as a range of certainties upon which we consider optimal functioning.
Could it be that God wants me to seek the stillness that I can obtain in order to witness His hand in all the Earth? To know the dynamics around me. To appreciate the things He has set in motion, even when it’s ever-changing, ebbing and flowing, seeking centralized tendencies, growing and dying, adjusting and accepting.
There is a principle in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) that encourages embracing change + acceptance. Take things for what they are in a “radical acceptance” mindset. Of course, this does not apply to addiction or abusive relationships. Imagine, however, how less stressed we could be if we recognized things for what they are, without judgment or the feeling that we must change them. We can identify and embrace patience and empathy even if we choose to make a change in the future.
This is where I am today. I don’t have to push today away. Even while embracing today, with all its teachable moments, I can choose something different in my future. What if we settled as much as we could for some portion of our day and simply accepted the day and life for what it is? What if we sat still long enough to feel God’s rhythm in our bodies, the Earth, relationships, and systems around us? Could we then get up from our stillness knowing that God can carry us without us feeling the need to constantly fight against the unsteadiness and uncertainties of life?
If we can anchor our fulcrum to something as secure as secure can be, our fluctuations in life will be as still as still can be. Maybe the “be still” God is asking is simply that I remember and resecure myself to my fulcrum from which I will be able to balance, pivot, and leverage life’s uncertainties.
A Chosen Life 