Be Still
By Elisa Morgan
Calamity is all around us.
War and rumors of war.
Tornados and floods and fires.
Inflation and homelessness.
Mental and physical disease.
Disagreements and fighting.
Suffering.
Suffering.
SUFFERING.
My sleep is interrupted with nightmares, often where I’m helpless to do anything to make a difference in our deranged world. Only occasionally does hope break through and beckon me back to personal investment. Then, slowly, that very hope trickles down the drain of my daytime hours, and I’m dried up by dinner time.
How do we cope? What might we offer? Where do we run?
I turn to words familiar to me and worn into the wrinkles of my being. Will you go there with me?
Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Now that you’ve read the entirety, go back and focus in on this verse (Psalm 46:10):
Be still, and know that I am God.
A surprising instruction perhaps? Be still? Know that I am God?
Reread the Psalm and watch for every reference to what God – our God – can and does do.
Reread yet again and watch for every reference to what you and I can do.
Now…read verse 10 again, one phrase at a time, pausing after each.
Be.
Be still.
Be still and know.
Be still and know that I am God.
And once more, this time backwards.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Our God is God. We can acknowledge and depend on Him. We can be still and know that He is God.
Sometimes that’s all we can do. Sometimes that’s all we need to do.
Elisa Morgan's latest book is You Are Not Alone. She is the cohost of the podcast, God Hears Her. She is also the cohost of Discover the Word and contributor to Our Daily Bread. Her other books include When We Pray Like Jesus, The Beauty of Broken, Hello, Beauty Full, and She Did What She Could. Connect with Elisa @elisa_morgan on Twitter, and @elisamorganauthor on Facebook and Instagram.