Have you ever met someone that seemed to be the epitome of tranquility? … Someone that kept their ‘cool’ in any situation you’ve ever observed them in? … They sail through rough waters with grace … when faced with difficulties their strength does not waver … They always come up with just the right thing to say or do … or know when to say or do nothing? …
We wish we could emulate them … but we find we are not … we turn our worries over and over in out minds ... passing them through one scenario after another … We try to pray … but we don’t feel any better when we say ‘Amen’ …
Tranquility starts with practicing trust … practicing trust … delight in the Lord … commitment to our faith … and stillness throughout our day … Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God” can point us toward tranquility in most every situation … this verse tells us more than to rest and relax … we are to rest and relax in who God is … omnipotent … omnipresent … omniscient … it’s more of a verse that tells us to wake up to who God is … He’s the creator of all things … from the beginning of time … He is the author of the past … the present … the future … there is nothing apart from God … We are to take time each day to rest in who God is … to meditate on the power of His love for us … the Grace that He bestows on each of us every day … By taking time to be still and connect with our faith in God … we can find peace even amidst the chaos life offers … We can take time to be thankful for what we do have … and remember that while we are above ground … trials are going to be a part of our lives … and are a part of God’s plan …We can take time to pray … asking God for guidance and strength … Being still isn’t always easy … but it can be enriching if we take time to be thankful and remember that God is always with us …
The term here ‘be still’ lends itself more to ‘cease striving’ or ‘stop’ … and more specifically in this case … ‘stop fighting’ … We … as God’s people … should interpret this more as ‘wake up’ … stop fearing’ … ‘realize WHO God is’ … and revere Him for all that He is … of course … the words are not incorrect in this verse … for every verse in God’s Word is breathed by God … 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us … “16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” So … the words are not incorrect … not at all … we are simply to note the context of the phrase …
At some point in your life … you may … or may have … be … or have been blessed to be witness to something that is worked out only by what can be explained as ‘God’s intervention’ … I have been … more than once … and in each and every instance I am left in Awe of our One True God … Some try to explain it away as coincidence or luck … not me … I don’t believe in luck … I believe everything … e v e r y t h i n g is orchestrated by God … there is not one thing … no matter how big or how small … that is outside of His control … I trust Him … and in that it doesn’t mean that we stop wringing our hands and let them hang limply at our side … it means that we rely on His integrity … His strength … His ability … It’s placing our worries in His capable hands … and choosing to walk in His way …believing that His heart toward us is true and everlasting … even when our prayers are not answered the way we want them to be … He answers … Trust … it leads to tranquility …
I’ll close today with a verse to meditate on … to be still with … “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices." Psalm 37:3-7
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Originally published on Feb. 13, 2023
By Joan Paschal
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