“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalms 46:10-11
When was the last time that we were still before God? In this world where we are used to practically everything coming instantly, we find ourselves getting impatient when our meal takes an extra minutes in the microwave. Or when our flight takes an extra 20 minutes because it was delayed. It used to take months to travel from country to country but now we can go on the other side of the world in 15 hours. We live in a culture where things have never been faster yet people still seem to not have enough time. Today, time is the most valuable commodity, yet what we don’t always realize is that trying to fit the most into the time we have could be the very thing keeping us from what is greater than time, God. For a lot of us, being busy comes with a feeling of accomplishment that we are doing something worthwhile with our lives and it is praised among many. Being still and resting is not a popular idea in this society. It is even looked down on as laziness by many, even among believers. But what does being still really mean?
When God created the world, He rested on the seventh day. Now God didn’t have to rest, it wasn’t because it was too much for Him to create the world. No, and it definitely wasn’t because He was lazy. So why did He choose to rest and not create anything on that day?
I believe it was to give us an example. If God all-powerful, who didn’t need to rest took a day to rest how much more do we need rest, we who get so easily worn and weary. Not only does God know that we need to rest but I also believe that being still and knowing is a sign of trust that God is great enough to provide for our needs and being still is an act of faith. God put the Sabbath into place in the Old Testament to give us a day to rest and be still. There are different views on whether the Sabbath is still in place today but I think we should all remember something: Christ dying for us and paying for our sins is the most amazing thing that has happened to us but that doesn’t mean that we don’t get tired anymore and are not in need of rest and being still. 100 years ago people didn’t used to work on Sundays, almost everything was closed. Even a few years ago it was like that. Today it is rare if something is not open on Sundays. I am not saying that you shouldn’t work or go out on Sundays, what I am saying is that our culture has taken a day that used to be for rest and is making it a day just like all the others. We are losing our day of rest. Because of materialism and business. And if we don’t actively plan out how we are going to take time in the week to be still it may never happen.
Taking a complete day of rest is no little thing, it requires a lot of trust in God’s provision and faith that you are investing into something eternal. If you do not have that focus than it could look like a waste of a day.
So I pray that as believers we will take a day where we will be still and know that He is God; A day where we will be refreshed and ready to keep going, mentally, physically and spiritually. If you are tired, get some sleep. If you are feeling depressed, do what God commanded Elijah to do, eat and sleep. However you may be feeling, make sure that you are still before God and know that He is in control of everything and the world won’t fall apart from you taking a day off. And set your whole focus upon God and His promises, preach to yourself truth, listen to the voice of God for you will have most likely been bombarded by satan’s lies if you live in the same world that I live in.
I believe that if Christians spent less time being busy and more time being still before God we would have a massive revival in this generation.
Live Radically
