Devotion: In the Stillness
Sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying to choose what to read out of your whole big Bible. Sometimes it’s intimidating knowing how to spend your quiet time with God when there are no prompts or guidelines. That’s why Collide’s Next Steps Coordinator, Michelle Holladay, wrote a devotion for every single week this year – so you can take the guesswork out of your devotional time and relax into prayer and reading. Join us on the blog each week for a new devotion.
Read – Psalm 46
Years ago, on a women’s retreat, one of the activities offered during our free time was a prayer walk. The grounds were beautiful and there were different stops along the path with scripture to reflect on. I chose to do the walk one day and as I neared the end, I was getting a little restless and, if I’m honest, I had moved from being intentional about the exercise to merely going through the motions. I came to one of the last stops and the verse to reflect on was Psalm 46:10a, “Be still and know that I am God.” “Oh good,” I thought, “an easy one.” There was a rock by a lake, so I sat still on the rock for about 20 seconds and thought, “He is God. Ok, that was great, let’s get this over with. I wonder what my friends are doing.” But as I stood up to move on, I felt there was more I needed to learn, so I plopped myself back down on the rock and tried to really concentrate, “He is God, He is God. Ok, got it, let’s move on.” But still, I couldn’t seem to walk away. I figured I wasn’t going to have peace until I figured out what God wanted me to learn, so I sat there and as I did, instead of hearing some profound word from God, my mind was flooded with all of the things which make me doubt. I thought about all the things from the Bible I don’t understand, all of the questions from non-believers I cannot answer. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does evil seem to prosper? What’s with all the weird regulations in Leviticus?
Instead of feeling peace, I was feeling unsettled and frustrated. But then, I felt as if God was trying to tell me to stop. Stop trying to figure it all out. Stop trying to make sense of it all and just trust Him. Know that He is the Creator of the universe and, as Creator, only He knows how everything works together. Know that He truly is good all of the time, even if I can’t see the goodness with my own self-absorbed understanding of what good is. Know that He is in control of all things and nothing happens in this world without His knowledge and permission. Know that He loves me deeply and wants to be part of every moment of my life, not just the compartments I try to fit Him in. In short, “Be still and know that He is God.”
Sometimes I get so caught up in my own thoughts and my own feelings, my own need to know and understand, that I forget the most basic truths. He is God and I am not. I did not create this beautiful, intricate world we live in, but He did. I do not have all the answers, but He does. I need only to be still and know that He is God.
Will you take a moment today to sit, be still and revel in the greatness of God?
