Psalm 46:10 (NASB)
Be still and know that I am God………
Have you ever heard of the four godly
disciplines beginning with the letter “S”?
They are Silence, Solitude, Surrender, and Service. These four disciplines are all summarized in
this succinct verse. Be still (silence
and solitude) and know that I am God (surrender and service). To practice such disciplines provides several
benefits---you feel and become much closer to God, you grow in your character
to be more Christlike, and you have greater assurance of your being within the
grace and will of God. Let’s focus
briefly on these four disciplines
Silence
To be silent means that you are
listening. God gave us one mouth and two
ears. You are to listen more than you
are to speak. The problem is that most
people speak far more than they listen.
You are at times to “be still”.
You are to stop doing and stop talking and start listening. Bible study is part of listening. Prayer involves listening as much as
talking. Meditation is all
listening. In today’s frenetic world and
urgency in everything, it takes sheer discipline to practice silence.
Solitude
Solitude is not loneliness. Solitude is a choice while loneliness is not. Solitude is being alone, not lonely. Solitude permits being still. Jesus set the example of solitude. He was alone 40 days in the wilderness and He
often withdrew from His disciples and from the crowed to pray and meditate
(Mark 1:35, Luke 4:42, 5:16). His
followers are to do the same (Matthew 6:6).
Surrender
To surrender means to “deny yourself” (Luke
9:23), to give up everything in order to follow Jesus (Matthew 10:38-39, Luke
14:33) and to present yourself as a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to
God…..” (Romans 12:1). Surrendering to
God means that you know that He is God; that you know with all of
your heart, mind, soul and strength that God is who He says He is. You surrender your pride, your control, your
independence, your will to God.
Henrietta Mears: “The greatness
of man's power is the measure of his surrender. It is not a question of who you
are, or of what you are, but whether God controls you.”
Service
To know God by practicing the disciplines
of silence, solitude, and surrender, you will easily know what you need to do
to serve Him and others. In fact,
serving God is to serve others. When
Jesus asked Peter if Peter loved Him and Peter said “yes” three times, Jesus
always replied that Peter therefore must serve others (John 21:15-17). Your love for the Lord is not proved by
saying that you love Him, but by serving others (I John 3:18, Galatians
5:13-14).
Another translation for the phrase “Be
still” is “Cease striving”. The original
Hebrew means “to sink”, “relax”, “let go”, and “to be quiet”. In this very competitive world that produces
overwhelming stress for so many people, these are wise words. You’ve heard the phrase “let go and let God”? This is what Psalm 46:10 is advocating. Why not start practicing letting go through
these disciplines and letting God take control of your life’s
circumstances? You might like the poem “To Let Go Takes Love” by Robert
Paul Gilles[1]
What might you start doing today to “Be
still (and cease striving) and know who God is?”
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