The command “be still” has always baffled me. How do you do that? Even if I am able to be physically still, my mind is always going a thousand miles an hour. Do you relate? I can focus on a portion of Scripture or prayer, but being absolutely still feels impossible.
Until recently.
According to Strong’s Definition on BlueLetterBible.org, the Hebrew word used for “be still” can also be translated to “cease”, “be weak”, and “be feeble”, among other things. My favorite, though, is “fail.”
Fail, and know that he is God. Be weak, and know that he is God.
A wave of relief came over me. I can do that! I can be weak, feeble, and fail. That feels more attainable than simply being still. As I pondered it further, I realized that maybe it is in failing and knowing our weakness—our humanity—that we know that he is God.
Maybe we are able to best meditate on who God is when we realize that we are not God. We can’t control life, we don’t know the future, we are finite.
He is not.
What are you worried about today? What are you trying to control? How are you trying to serve God? Where do you feel like you are failing? To each situation, speak this truth: He is God.
Because he is God, because he is not finite like us, his plans and purposes will come to pass. Whether we help or not, God will be exalted among the nations and the earth. Any work we do for him is to be an act of worship, not of striving or control. He’s already got this! Glorifying God is not about accomplishing everything, but in knowing his place (and ours).
Isn’t the truth about our identity freeing?
Dear God, you are so good. Thank you for holding me in your hands, and thank you for allowing me to be part of exalting you in the earth. Show me what you want me to do, and forgive me for trying to be you. Amen.
Throughout this day: Meditate on some of the ways that God is God and you are not. The song You Are God and I am Not
might help guide your thoughts.
Photo Credit: Jordan Benton