We’re all busy. We struggle to stay focused amidst the challenges, distractions and information overload that surround us today—especially from technology. No matter how disciplined you are, when your smartphone “dings,” you usually find yourself pulling it out to read whatever it was that screamed for your attention: a text message, a social media post, a news release, whatever.
Today more than ever, it’s a struggle not to be distracted and instead be tuned in to where the Lord would have you focus.
This became clear to me years ago when I found myself in Colorado on a camping trip. One morning before sunrise, I walked away from camp and found a solitary spot where I could watch the sun come up over a mountain. If you’ve ever watched the sun rise like that, you know it’s breathtaking.
There I was, on the side of a wooded slope, overlooking a meadow with a creek. It was so quiet you could have heard a pine needle drop. In that moment, the Spirit of God came on me, and I sat there for a couple of hours. I didn’t have a vision. God didn’t speak to me audibly. But in that moment, everything He is—all the peace, all the joy, all the assurance, all the knowing—was there. When I returned to camp, I was in a completely different place spiritually, and I remained in that place for months.
I asked the Lord, “Why did I have to go to the side of a mountain in Colorado to have that kind of experience?”
The Lord quickened me to look at Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Be still…know…those words stood out to me from that simple verse. If we want to truly know Him, it starts by getting still.
Get Still
Getting still before the Lord allows us to experience all His capacities—what He’s imparted to each of us, the assurance of our faith and the things we believe.
In Hebrew, the word still means to “cease or abate.” "Strong’s Concordance" gives another definition that makes me chuckle: “Relax.”
Sometimes it’s hard to cease, abate or simply relax in this world. To do so requires a real commitment.
I’m reminded of Martha, who was so busy and concerned with serving that she couldn’t sit at Jesus’ feet. The Lord didn’t tell Martha she shouldn’t serve, but He did correct her for being “cumbered about much serving” (Luke 10:40). In the next verse, Jesus clarified that in doing so, she was “troubled about many things.”
We need to be able to accomplish our work or ministry without being cumbered or troubled about what we do. We must recognize that there is a time to abate from our physical labor and get physically still before the Lord.
Enter the Word
How do we get still in this busy, busy world?
BVOV : 21
