Meditation Monday, August 30, 2021

by Sharon Ross, Minister of Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Director, and Assistant to the Senior Pastor

“Be still, and know that I am God.“

Psalm 46:10a

Walk through any Christian book store and you will find that “Be still and know that I am God”(Psalm 46:10) is one of those really well known verses. If one wanted to, they could buy t-shirts, mugs, plaques and pretty much anything else with this verse on it. It is a verse that speaks to our need for surrender to God, and to meditate. Or is it?

Yes and no. It is good to be reminded to calm down and that God is God and we are not. But, there is so much more we are missing if we make the assumption that THE full and proper understanding of “Be Still” is a command to meditate. “Be still and know that I am God” is actually a command to lay down one’s weapons and to rest in God’s power to to save them (the Israelites) from warfare. It is a call to lay down their weapons and stop trying to handle things on their own. It is a call to reverance and dependency;  a command to have complete and utter trust in God. Be still, in Psalm 46, means to trust God without fear or anxiety. 

What does it mean to lay down our weapons today? We aren’t running around with shields and spears and complete body armor these days, afterall. But, what if we lay down our weapons of bitterness, or resistance to trusting others or our passive aggressiveness? There are a host of weapons we use to protect ourselves from others and to avoid our own sinfulness. Perhaps it is time we prayerfully ask God what weapons we use as individuals and in the church  to cope with life and solve life’s problems on our own rather than having complete and utter trust in Him?