Taking time to be still

It's quiet time in our house right now. One is napping. One is making a box about how God made her and why she is special.  And I am reflecting on this quiet time, this time to be still, this time to listen.

There are not too many times in the day of a child or an adolescent or an adult, that we'll CHOOSE to be still and stop thinking about past or  future to just be, right here, right now.  As an adult, you might be familiar with Psalm 46:1o:

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Many focus on the part 'be still' and quickly give up because it's impossible to be still, it's so hard to not let the mind wander or to think of the to-do list. And this is true for me, in the sense that I cannot find a place where my mind does not think about anything, my mind cannot be still. And so that is something I pray for.

But right here and now, the part he's pointing out to me is not the stillness but this... 'and KNOW that I AM GOD.'

KNOW - that's a definitive, concrete word; he didn't say 'contemplate, wonder, figure out if I am God'

NO, he said 'KNOW' that I am God. That leaves no room for doubt. The rest of Psalm 46 speaks of the power and majesty of GOD.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 ⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

He is a refuge, he is strength, he will not fall, he is our fortress, he is Almighty, he is an ever-present help - this is what he wants you to KNOW (not wonder about, not doubt, not think maybe this is what he is but I don't know for sure).  Therefore, DO NOT FEAR (vs 2), but be still, still the innards, calm the butterflies, chase away the fear because you KNOW who God is.

And you want to KNOW who else he is:  (from Exodus 34 - God is describing himself to Moses)

⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

He is GOD. He reigns sovereign in each of our lives from beginning to end. To KNOW him means to have faith in him, without doubting who he is. To KNOW him means to have faith in what he can do, which is far more than anything we could conceive of ourselves, to KNOW him means not to limit him by putting him the Bible Box and telling him he can only do what he has shown he can do in the bible.

To KNOW God means to not know what your tomorrow brings and to trust him with your today.

So put to rest the fluttering, the worrying, the list-making and ACCEPT that he IS GOD. KNOW HIM.
Practicing quiet time for everyone, adults and kids alike, allows each one of us to observe how God is working in our days and helps us to turn over the control, giving back to the one whose hands it is best in.