Be Still...

A friend celebrated his birthday recently by visiting Catalina.  Beautiful place.  He came back with this picture.  I could stare at it for hours…  It prompted me to pack up the family and head to the ocean for a couple of days.  Powerful picture.  Powerful ocean.  Staring at it calms me.  Puts me into perspective. 

Dear Jesus – I praise You for the power of Your creation.  It is hard for me to be still.  Please gift me with the capacity to be still today.   I want to know you are God in every fiber of my being.  You have promised I can in Your WORD and I want that today.

Today a lot of Christians in the world will give particular thought to the scenes of the last day of Jesus life.  Me?  I struggle with contemplating those scenes.  I want to give a gift.  I want to express my appreciation for a sacrifice I can’t comprehend.  But getting all emotionally whacked out?  I’ve learned something about Jesus:  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Well – I’m gonna keep my eyes on Jesus and trust that He will bring me to the level of emotional response that’s best for me in His perfect timing. 

As I considered this state of affairs, a favorite verse came to mind:  Be still and know that I am God.  Hey now – there’s something I can wrap my head around – something I can DO.  I can at least commit to contemplating the concept of ‘be still’. 

Be still and know I am God – Psalms 46:10. 

A quick little word search combined with checking the law-of-first occurrence gives the following insight. 

Be still – raphah in Hebrew…

1) to sink down

2) to sink, drop

3) to sink, relax, abate

4) to relax, withdraw

Know

a) to know, learn to know

b) to perceive

c) to perceive and see, find out and discern

d) to discriminate, distinguish

e) to know by experience

f) to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess

g) to consider

God – this word I'll use the law-of-first occurrence for.  You know what?  We go straight to Genesis 1:1.  Yep – You ARE the God who creates. 

You are the God who created this earth, the ocean and me.  You are the God who promises to recreate my heart today.  I am gonna spend this entire day sinking down, relaxing, withdrawing into cozy places in my heart such that as I move through this day I can recognize, admit and acknowledge the variety of ways You create and recreate me every day. 

Thank You Jesus for Your gift of eternal life.  Thank You especially for being gentle with my sin-filled nature as You recreate me in Your image.