Be still and know that I am God
April 30, 2008 | Comments Off
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God (I Samuel 30:6)
It was early Monday morning. I woke up scared. Life seemed painfully uncertain. Of all things to literally rattle the mid-west–an earthquake. Tornados are one thing, but come on, an earthquake? I personally did not feel the quake, but just 20 miles to the north of us and 20 miles to the south there were reports of rattling dishes and shaking houses. There was no mistake. It was an earthquake.
As I lay awake in the early morning hours, my mind became paralyzed with fear. I tried to counter and parry every move that an earthquake could throw at me, but it was no good. I was helpless. It always had the upper hand. It always had the element of surprise. What if I was in the car with my wife and children, and stuck helplessly on the Paseo Bridge? What if my wife…? What if my children…? What if, what if, what if? There is no other way to say it. I was in a panic, a fear frenzy.
David found himself in a situation that could rattle even the sturdiest of saints. He and his men returned to Ziklag and found that their wives and children had been kidnapped. Overtaken by grief, David’s men considered stoning him right then and there. Instead of panicking, the Word says that David “strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”
Thankfully that morning the Holy Spirit began convicting me of my fearful, panicking spirit. I knew it wasn’t right. I couldn’t keep on like this. It was fruitless. In all my fear I was leaving out the one and only constant in the equation, namely, Yahweh himself.
Psalm 46 clearly states that because God is a very present help in trouble (vs 1); because He is with us (vs7); and because He has absolute control of desolation and peace in the earth (vs 8-9); we ought not to be characterized by a spirit of fear for these very reasons.
It is interesting that the Psalmist describes an earthquake to illustrate a very bleak, helpless, and unsettling experience. Yet, the exhortation still stands, “Be still and know that I am God…”