“Be still and know that I am God...” Psalms 46:10
I finally sat down the other day and worked on my goals and scriptures for the new year. I know it is late, but this year has already been so busy! I am a very goal oriented person so every new year I always sit down and plan out my goals for the year and choose some words to focus on. I write them in a journal that I have kept for the past nine years. It is very neat to see the goals I had when I was still in college and how my priorities have changed throughout the years.
The verse I wrote above has stuck out to me over the past few weeks as I have been thinking about the new year and what I would like to accomplish. What is neat is that I already had my words picked out for the year, and then I came across this verse and immediately saw a connection with my goals for the year! It is always neat to see how God wraps up your thoughts and how He gives you just what you need for the moment. He knew my heart and what I was wanting to focus on this year. I believe He allowed me to come across this verse that gave insight into my goals.
My words this year are…
Rest- I want to be more intentional with rest and finding time to rest my mind and body.
Faith- I believe this year God is wanting my family and I to take some leaps of faith.
Trust- I believe that God is calling my family and I to a new level of trust in His
provisions.
The scripture from Psalms 46:10 really puts light into these words. If we were to look at this verse in context it is taken from a passage titled in my Bible, God Our Refuge. It speaks of the characteristics of God. It talks about how He is our strength and refuge and how He is always with us. In verse ten the Psalmist puts God’s words into quotations saying, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” While I am only choosing to focus on the first part of that verse, It is neat to see the chapter in its entirety and to understand that verse ten is the direct words of God to His people. He is telling us to be still and recognize his sovereignty. Two things that I need to get better at.
The first part of this verse says to “be still”. Being still is resting in God. It is letting go of our thoughts on how we think our lives should be lived and trusting that His will and plan is best. This year I have some big decisions to make and I spent all of December and the first few days of the new year trying to figure out God’s will and what I thought should happen etc. At some point in all of my jumbled thoughts and stress, God spoke to me. I feel like He told me to just be still and stop trying to figure everything out. He wants me to go into this new year resting in Him. He wants me to stop trying to solve everything on my own, and just believe He will work it out in His timing. Do you feel the same way? Are you also trying to figure everything out on your own? Why don’t we work at this together and leave our worries and questions at the cross and take some time to just be with Jesus? Sometimes I think God just wants us to just be with Him and rest in the shadow of His wings. So many times in the gospels Jesus rested (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:15-16, Mark 1:45, Mark 2:13). He would separate himself from the crowds and go alone to a solitary place to pray and think. We like Jesus, need to do this every once in awhile. We need to rest our minds and our spirits. I want to take more intentional time to rest this year. I want to be still and listen for God’s voice. I desire to break away from the noise around me and in my head and just trust in Him that He is working for my good (Romans 8:28).
In the second half of this verse God says, “know that I am God”. To know that He is God is knowing that He is all powerful and in control. He is sovereign. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sovereignty means supreme power or authority. I began to ask myself, is my level of faith and amount of trust in God reflecting how sovereign He is? If I truly know that He is God, I will trust Him to work everything out for my good.
I need to be willing to take a leap of faith. I need to trust in His power and not my own. I need to be still and find rest in Him for my weary mind and soul. I want to mention here that being still and trusting in God does not mean doing nothing. Being still is trusting in God to work things out for our good while continuing to seek His Kingdom and work diligently in the season He has placed us in. A leap of faith requires movement but we can still rest in God while we move towards the beautiful plans He has for us. That my friends, is my goal for this year.