Be Still!
Back when I was the pastor at Ivey Memorial UMC, we built a Family Life Center. I used to wait until the office was quiet and take my cell phone and tell the secretary to call me if she needed me. On one particular day, we were laying cinder block. At the end of the day I was cleaning my tools and realized I couldn’t find my phone. I looked everywhere, and it was nowhere to be found.
After everyone left and it was quiet, I went to my office phone and called the cell phone. To my surprise I could hear it ringing. It was cemented in the wall where I had been laying cinder block. We had laid a lot of blocks that day, and the phone was in the middle of an erected wall. I never was able to retrieve that phone, but the only way I found it was to listen when it was completely quiet. As far as I know that phone is still in the wall at that Family Life Center.
The Bible talks about the value of being still. I Kings 19:12 says God sometimes speaks in a whisper. Our lives are so busy, we often find it hard to hear God. We have to stop rushing around and spend some quiet time with God.
Our text today is Psalm 37:1-7, which reveals that we can trust God to rescue us from the “wicked schemes” of evil people. The text also says we can trust God to give us refuge and help us to stay faithful. This seems almost impossible in our world today because turmoil is everywhere.
The Psalm describes the conduct of two kinds of people – the righteous and the wicked. The wicked harass and prey upon the righteous, but the righteous aren’t alone. Verse 16 and following says God protects them and makes them safe and secure. Verses 39 and 40 tell us “the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them…because they take refuge in Him.”
Verse 7 tells us to “be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” The next time you lay cinder block around your telephone – “be still.” The next time we are surrounded by evil – learn how to keep silent for a few minutes after prayer. The next time you are reading God’s Word, be quiet and let the Holy Spirit soak into your being. Be still!
Prayer – God grant me the patience and discipline to stay still for a while each day, so that I can hear Your whisper in my life. Amen.
Psalm 37: 7 – “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Images: Aaron Andrew Ang, Distinct Designer & Aleksandra Sapozhnikova, courtesy of Unsplash
