Be Still

L

iving in a house in close proximity to the members of your family can sometimes be a challenge.  This is especially true as little children grow older and begin to test the limits of mom and dad’s authority.  While they are encouraged to be independent, as they grow older, obedience remains part and parcel of belonging to a family.  Coming under mom and dad’s authority goes hand-in-hand with living under their roof.

Like any other kid, I too tested the limits of the boundaries established by my mom and dad.  Sometimes I would just stick my big toe into the forbidden waters of disobedience and at other times I jumped in whole hog.  I figured getting wet was half the fun and staying to swim for a while was the other half. It was usually about this time that my interests and my parents’ conflicted.  Guess who won?

I can remember so many times when I crossed the line.  My dad would then discipline me and I would just stew, believing I had been unjustly treated.  The more I thought about it the madder I got until I was just ready to explode.  That’s when daddy usually came to talk to me about what had transpired, to tell me why I had been disciplined.     

He would pick me up and hold me, repeating these two words, “Be still!”  That was the last thing I wanted I assure you!  I didn’t feel like being held, I didn’t feel like talking, and I didn’t feel like being calm.  I wanted to run!  Daddy just held me, softly saying, “Be still, Blake. Be still!”

As I look back on it now, I am amazed at the patience and wisdom of my dad.  He knew I was hurting, he knew I wasn’t happy, he knew I didn’t like the discipline, and he knew I didn’t want to be still.  But he held me anyway, rocking me and telling me just to be still.  I can still hear his voice in my ear, reminding me to calm down and be quiet. No matter what my feelings at the time, two things were true: 1) daddy loved me enough to discipline me and 2) he loved me enough to hold on to me even when I was being stubborn.

Is it any different with our Heavenly Father?  How many times do we exert our own independence, putting our agenda ahead of God’s? We never put our big toe into the water just to test it; we always jump in only to find the water is way over our heads.  Not content to admit we were wrong, however, we decide to stay awhile and get the most out of our stubbornness.

 

This is when God steps in to intervene on our behalf, even though we don’t believe it at the time.  God knows that our disobedience, if left unchecked, will only serve to alienate us from Him.  This is something he neither wants nor allows.

The process of bringing us back into a right relationship is sometimes painful but always necessary.  Afterward, we may not feel as if God loves us.  We may not understand why things turn out the way they do nor why God places us in very difficult situations.  We may be angry, confused, and more than a little dismayed.  But that is all right because we serve a God who loves us more than we can even imagine.

Even in the most difficult times, God picks us up, holds us on his lap, wraps his arms around us, and whispers, “Be still.”  This is the message of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”  The purpose of our stillness is to learn that the Lord is God.  He knows what is best for us.  He alone loves us as no other can.  He loves us enough to discipline us and he loves us enough to hold us when life’s way grows hard, even when it is due to our own stubborn disobedience.

I learned so much during the times when my dad held me.  I learned that he loved me, that he wanted to hold me, that he hurt when I hurt, and that he was so much smarter and wiser than I was.  How much more, then, does our Heavenly Father love us?  How much more does He long to hold us and comfort us during the difficult times of life—even when they are the result of our disobedience?  Are you being still today?