Be Still
Inspired by Psalm 46…
Be Still
How long must this go on? For how much longer must I endure? Hopelessness and despair fall around me; they envelope my very bones.
I stride forth in confidence, yet loneliness still resides inside my heart.
Day by day I press on… enduring, fighting, withstanding. Yet, still again, I am defeated.
Why is this? Why does my heart feel heavy? I feel empty and worthless, broken and overcome. I collapse to the floor, blood gushing from my body; yet still, the pain continues. I am defeated, and I can endure no longer.
As the days turn to months, and the months turn to years, I still rest broken on the floor.
I hear a voice, ever so softly, whisper in my ear, yet in my misery there is no room for words of comfort. I shove it out of my mind and move on.
I hear the voice a second time. And again, I try to press it out of my mind.
And finally, a third time the voice makes itself known to me. This time I listen. I have no where to run. My body is withered, but deep inside my heart yearns for more.
“Be still and know that I am God.” The words echo in my head. “Be still and know that I am God…”
And as I lay there, my body oppressed and my heart fragmented, I look up to the heavens.
“Be still and know that I am God…” I hear it again inside my head.
More words envelope my thoughts. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
I am not alone. Though the earth crumbles around me, my refuge is in God. He is my fortress and He will not fall.
From the break of day to the setting of the sun, He reigns in heaven on His throne.
My problems no longer tower menacingly above me. Rather, they provide me opportunities to grow in Him, on the true Vine.
“The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
[Quotations taken from Psalm 46]
