Be Still and Know?
Have you ever thought of how profound the Bible is? For example. The shortest scripture is “Jesus wept”. Think about that for a minute. If Jesus was all God and all man... does God weep?
When I’ve thought of God I have imagined a stoic being; full of confidence and power and sometimes even angry.
I have been studying the personality of Jesus. I always thought emotions were "a problem." Like they were some kind of weakness. Are they simply a weakness? Do they appear out of nowhere for any reason? I used to think that emotions just “snuck up” on people. You know, someone just busted out crying for no apparent reason. They can be like that. If your emotions are not inline with your physical being or mental status. That's a whole other story...
Who do I think made emotions? Have I thought that the devil was the author of emotions? I’ve heard preachers say that we should not be ruled by our emotions. I understand that to a degree, but as with everything there are extremes.
Some churches call it “sensationalism” or “hype “. Is it? When a service is just a performance without heart or relationship with God....yes it is hype. It's like bad acting. Everyone knows it’s not real and that the actors don’t believe what they are saying or doing. Matter of fact I’ve seen some acting and thought to myself, “did that person even read the script?” Or “ who in the world convinced them to take that job?"
The church has many times stifled emotions. You know put in rules like: don’t raise your hands, don’t clap, don’t sing too loud and definitely do not draw attention to yourself. Hmm... something to think about.
Of course there is the “flip side” where all people do is dance, laugh, cry and “show off”. What does balance look like?
Let’s take some examples from the Bible. King David was a man after God’s own heart. Why? Was he perfect? Did he always do the “right thing?” Nope. But David was genuine. There’s a word we don’t hear often enough... genuine.
When David was able to bring the “Ark of the Covenant” back to its rightful place he danced before the Lord. Why? Because he knew the presence of God, he loved God, he was happy that the Ark was being returned to its rightful place. He experienced God and with a genuine heart he danced before God in celebration. It wasn’t a show or proof that he was a king or an act of sacrifice... it was a genuine response to God. It wasn’t even “kingly “ behavior. Matter of fact his wife became horrified at his behavior. To her he was demeaning himself. Was he? Yes. He was humbling himself , giving everything to God without holding anything back.
What about Miriam after they crossed the Red Sea? She danced and sang. It was genuine. It’s important that when we worship God with our emotions that we are honest, genuine, authentic and have nothing to gain by our actions other than expressing true love and devotion to someone who deserves it more than anyone else.
Jesus loved Lazarus. He spent a great deal of time with him. He knew him. But if he was all God, didn’t he know that Lazarus would rise from the grave? His humanity wept for someone he loved. Lazarus had been dead. He’d been dead for many days. Could it be that Jesus wept because Lazarus had suffered death? He'd been "in death" for three days....hmm....
God created us in His image. We are emotional beings. Emotions are normal. Emotions warn us of danger, they help us express compassion and love , they are meant to be a positive attribute. However when emotions aren’t connected to a healed heart, they can mislead, misdirect and deceive.
The hardest scripture to keep in the Bible is “Be still and know that I am God.” It sounds easy to say. But when we try to do it everything around us becomes much more important. All of those things need to be done now. Everything is urgent and we are compelled to get up and respond.
I wonder if we’ve lost the ability to be still? There are so many distractions, so much “noise” in the world, such fear and urgency. Do you think that being still is a key to healthy living? The Psalms state that “He who waits upon the Lord shall renew his strength .“ Could waiting and stillness be where our strength is renewed?
The only way to be genuine is to take time to be still. Wait, talk to God or just wait. If we spend a little more time waiting would our emotions line up with what is true, honest, lovely, of good report? Could we be genuine? Would our emotions line up with what is currently happening and not a "surprise" of sorts?
Let’s try it. Let’s take some time and just be still. Not only does this give God the opportunity to speak to us, it gives us the opportunity to listen to our own spirit, soul and body. I wonder if we’d be more in touch with what our bodies are trying to tell us if we just took time to be still. Your body tells you things all the time. What does pain do? It tells you that something is wrong. It's so good that it will tell you where the pain is coming from. If you touch something hot...you experience pain because, it hurts.
I believe that God is emotional. I believe that we were created to be emotional, but when we don’t invest time and silence into our lives our souls start screaming out for silence. I admonish you to be brave today, be still, wait on God through rest and get your emotions in line with what is real. Try it and let me know if anything changes. I have a feeling that emotions will become purposeful, they will be restored to their original purpose and actions will eventually become genuine. God seems to like love honesty and true heart felt adoration. He deserves it. It makes him happy.
I admonish you to try to make God smile today. Let's also learn to "be still"... It's much harder than it sounds. (Psalm 46:10)
When I’ve thought of God I have imagined a stoic being; full of confidence and power and sometimes even angry.
I have been studying the personality of Jesus. I always thought emotions were "a problem." Like they were some kind of weakness. Are they simply a weakness? Do they appear out of nowhere for any reason? I used to think that emotions just “snuck up” on people. You know, someone just busted out crying for no apparent reason. They can be like that. If your emotions are not inline with your physical being or mental status. That's a whole other story...
Who do I think made emotions? Have I thought that the devil was the author of emotions? I’ve heard preachers say that we should not be ruled by our emotions. I understand that to a degree, but as with everything there are extremes.
Some churches call it “sensationalism” or “hype “. Is it? When a service is just a performance without heart or relationship with God....yes it is hype. It's like bad acting. Everyone knows it’s not real and that the actors don’t believe what they are saying or doing. Matter of fact I’ve seen some acting and thought to myself, “did that person even read the script?” Or “ who in the world convinced them to take that job?"
The church has many times stifled emotions. You know put in rules like: don’t raise your hands, don’t clap, don’t sing too loud and definitely do not draw attention to yourself. Hmm... something to think about.
Of course there is the “flip side” where all people do is dance, laugh, cry and “show off”. What does balance look like?
Let’s take some examples from the Bible. King David was a man after God’s own heart. Why? Was he perfect? Did he always do the “right thing?” Nope. But David was genuine. There’s a word we don’t hear often enough... genuine.
When David was able to bring the “Ark of the Covenant” back to its rightful place he danced before the Lord. Why? Because he knew the presence of God, he loved God, he was happy that the Ark was being returned to its rightful place. He experienced God and with a genuine heart he danced before God in celebration. It wasn’t a show or proof that he was a king or an act of sacrifice... it was a genuine response to God. It wasn’t even “kingly “ behavior. Matter of fact his wife became horrified at his behavior. To her he was demeaning himself. Was he? Yes. He was humbling himself , giving everything to God without holding anything back.
What about Miriam after they crossed the Red Sea? She danced and sang. It was genuine. It’s important that when we worship God with our emotions that we are honest, genuine, authentic and have nothing to gain by our actions other than expressing true love and devotion to someone who deserves it more than anyone else.
Jesus loved Lazarus. He spent a great deal of time with him. He knew him. But if he was all God, didn’t he know that Lazarus would rise from the grave? His humanity wept for someone he loved. Lazarus had been dead. He’d been dead for many days. Could it be that Jesus wept because Lazarus had suffered death? He'd been "in death" for three days....hmm....
God created us in His image. We are emotional beings. Emotions are normal. Emotions warn us of danger, they help us express compassion and love , they are meant to be a positive attribute. However when emotions aren’t connected to a healed heart, they can mislead, misdirect and deceive.
The hardest scripture to keep in the Bible is “Be still and know that I am God.” It sounds easy to say. But when we try to do it everything around us becomes much more important. All of those things need to be done now. Everything is urgent and we are compelled to get up and respond.
I wonder if we’ve lost the ability to be still? There are so many distractions, so much “noise” in the world, such fear and urgency. Do you think that being still is a key to healthy living? The Psalms state that “He who waits upon the Lord shall renew his strength .“ Could waiting and stillness be where our strength is renewed?
The only way to be genuine is to take time to be still. Wait, talk to God or just wait. If we spend a little more time waiting would our emotions line up with what is true, honest, lovely, of good report? Could we be genuine? Would our emotions line up with what is currently happening and not a "surprise" of sorts?
Let’s try it. Let’s take some time and just be still. Not only does this give God the opportunity to speak to us, it gives us the opportunity to listen to our own spirit, soul and body. I wonder if we’d be more in touch with what our bodies are trying to tell us if we just took time to be still. Your body tells you things all the time. What does pain do? It tells you that something is wrong. It's so good that it will tell you where the pain is coming from. If you touch something hot...you experience pain because, it hurts.
I believe that God is emotional. I believe that we were created to be emotional, but when we don’t invest time and silence into our lives our souls start screaming out for silence. I admonish you to be brave today, be still, wait on God through rest and get your emotions in line with what is real. Try it and let me know if anything changes. I have a feeling that emotions will become purposeful, they will be restored to their original purpose and actions will eventually become genuine. God seems to like love honesty and true heart felt adoration. He deserves it. It makes him happy.
I admonish you to try to make God smile today. Let's also learn to "be still"... It's much harder than it sounds. (Psalm 46:10)
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