Be Still

BE Still

• Last week we discussed about waiting on the Lord and how difficult it was. Tonight we will talk about even a more difficult topic, being still.

• The Word still or be still is found 88 times in the NASB Version of the Bible. Tonight let us look at the Scriptures on being still.

Psalm 46:10 (NASB) 10  "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

• God is real. He's in our midst. He cares about us deeply. He's going to see us through. So we can be still.

Genesis 18:22 (NASB) 22  Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD.

Nehemiah 8:11 (NASB) 11  So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved."

Job 4:16 (NASB) 16  "It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:

Psalm 4:4 (NASB) 4  Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

• Are you distressed today? Do what David did. Stand in awe of God. Be still. Commune with Him even as you lie in bed.

Jeremiah 47:6 (NASB) 6  "Ah, sword of the LORD, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Be at rest and stay still.

Mark 4:39 (NASB) 39  And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

• The Greek word translated "be still" literally means "be muzzled." This is the same command Jesus issued when He addressed demons, which implies that this storm was actually stirred by Satan.
• When Jesus thwarted Satan's plan and calmed the storm, not only were the disciples at peace, but all of the "other little ships" were spared as well. So, too, when Jesus makes His power known by the storms He calms for us, those around us benefit as they see His faithfulness to us.

Psalm 37:7 (NASB) 7  Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

• I like this psalm because if you take the first words of verses 1 through 6, it reads: "Fret not for trust, delight, commit, and rest." I love that!

Psalm 55:6 (NASB) 6  I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

• Can't you relate to David? Sometimes, don't you just feel like flying away? You feel pain and heartache, wondering why everything is going wrong or everything is coming down all around you. David surely felt this way as his own son turned against him.

Philippians 4:5-7 (NASB) 5  Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

• The older I get, the more I'm learning that prayer is not a monologue. It's a dialogue. I'm discovering more and more that the real need in my life is not for God to hear from me, but for me to hear from Him. And I find that as I walk, drive, or get on my knees, if I will pray a phrase or two and then just rest and be quiet, the Lord will bring specific scriptures to my mind or will write His will upon my heart concerning how I am to pray.
• But if I pray sentence after paragraph after page and then say, "Okay, that wraps it up for prayer time today," I really miss it. Oh, I know that even that kind of prayer has power. Any prayer is better than no prayer. But I suggest that if you learn to pause and listen in prayer, the Lord will show you how to believe on behalf of another, and how to pray specifically concerning any given situation.

The Key to Being Carefree

A Topical Study of

Philippians 4:4-7

godly man and a good king, Hezekiah loved the Lord and had a deep walk with Him. Nevertheless, he found himself in real difficulty when he heard that Sennacherib and his million-man Assyrian army were marching toward Jerusalem. The inventors of the siege strategy and the battering ram, the Assyrians had been unbeatable in battle, and unparalleled in brutality.

So what does Hezekiah do?

• First, he tries to solve his problem financially by attempting to bribe Sennacherib with the gold of the temple. His plan, of course, backfired because the sight of the gold only increased Sennacherib's determination to plunder Jerusalem. (2 Kings 18)
• Hezekiah's next plan was to build an alliance with Egypt. "You guys have horses and soldiers and military might at your disposal," he said. "Ally with us because if Sennacherib beats us, you'll be next."

At that moment, Isaiah the prophet comes on the scene and thunders a prophecy in the ears of Hezekiah:

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. Isaiah 30:1, 2, 15

• In other words, "What God wants from you in this crisis, in this hour of need is to return to Him, to wait on Him, to be quiet before Him."

I wonder if there are good men and women sitting here tonight who, feeling pressure relationally or vocationally, in ministry or financially, are saying "Help me!" to this counselor, or "Save me!" to that group—when all along the Lord would say, "First and foremost, come to Me."

"Oh, I don't have time to pray," we say. "I'm late for my counseling appointment. I don't have time to seek the Lord. I've got to strip the temple of gold to pay off Sennacherib."

Yet all the while, Paul says we are not to be anxious, not to be full of care about anything. His, however, is not merely a "Don't worry, be happy" maxim, for he goes on to tell us how....

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6

• "Prayer" refers to general communion with God; "supplication" to specific requests. Thus, Paul is saying, "Be anxious about nothing. Pray about everything. Give thanks for anything."

"That's easy for Paul," you say. "His prayers were always answered the way he wanted."

Really? Check out what he said to the Romans...

Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Romans 15:30-32

As he comes to the end of his letter to the Romans, Paul says, "Pray with me—first that I may be delivered from my enemies in Jerusalem; second, that my service may be accepted by the Christians; and finally, that I may come to you at Rome with joy."

But what happened? Paul was captured by his enemies in Jerusalem. His ministry was not readily accepted by the saints. And the only way he made it to Rome was as a prisoner.

Here's the deal, gang: God can say "Yes" to my prayers, or He can say "No." Either way, it's an answer. How many, many times I have said, "Here's my supplication, Father..." only to see that, down the road, what takes place is a whole lot better than what I asked for.

• "If your child asks for bread, which of you would give him a stone?" asked Jesus. "Or if he wants a fish, who of you would give him a scorpion?" (see Luke 11:11, 12). Sometimes we think we're asking for salmon, but the Lord recognizes it as a scorpion. Sometimes we cry for bread, but the Lord sees it's a boulder—and He loves us too much to give us something that would hurt us.

• So what are we to do? We're to make our request—and then rest in God's peace, a peace that passes our understanding (Philippians 4:7). We say, "Lord, I choose to not wring my hands and try to figure out how I can strip the temple or ally with Egypt. I choose to return to You, to rest in You, to worry about nothing, to pray about everything, and to be thankful for anything You decide to do."

And what happens may just blow your mind. Ask Hezekiah....

"Seek the Lord," Isaiah said. And Hezekiah did just that—even as Sennacherib continued to march. Things looked ominous, when suddenly, hearing of a new war breaking out, Sennacherib diverted his troops to an uprising northeast of Jerusalem. But that didn't keep Sennacherib's general, Rabshakeh, from firing off a letter to Hezekiah that said, "If you think we're through with you, you're sadly mistaken. We will not be stopped from destroying Jerusalem" (see 2 Kings 18).

Ever get a letter like that? Intimidating, threatening, disheartening? "Service will be suspended in five days unless..."

• This time, however, Hezekiah didn't say, "Oh no! What am I going to do? Who can I call?" No, having heard the Word from Isaiah, Hezekiah took Rabshakeh's letter, went into the temple, opened it before the Lord, and said, "Lord, I'm giving this to You," as he began to worship the One who dwells above all, the One who is greater than all (2 Kings 19).

Here on earth, things seem so big. Our mountains tower 29,028 feet above us, and the depths of the Mariana Trench plunge 36,198 feet below us. But from space, our planet looks perfectly smooth. In fact, if our earth was shrunk to the size of a bowling ball, a brand-new unused bowling ball would have more grooves and valleys and peaks than would our earth. It's all a matter of perspective.

When, like Hezekiah, you get above the situation, suddenly the problems that loomed so greatly and threatened so menacingly take on entirely different dimensions proportionately, for as the story goes on, Isaiah comes to Hezekiah, saying, "The Lord has spoken that not one person in Jerusalem shall be harmed. In fact, not one arrow shall enter the city."

• The Assyrians did, indeed, come. As was their custom, they surrounded the city. All it would have taken to nullify Isaiah's prophecy was one soldier to take one arrow and fire it over the wall. But none did. The Assyrians set up their camp around the city, 185,000 soldiers strong. But that night, an angel of the Lord came and smote the Assyrians before even one man could string his bow. One hundred eighty-five thousand men were wiped out in a way Hezekiah could never have orchestrated or predicted, in a way no counselor could have directed, in a way no book would have addressed.

That's the way of the Lord. So what does He say to you and me today? "Take your cares and turn them into prayer." We all know this—but do we do it? Do we leave our anxieties and concerns with the Lord—or even as we read these words, are we wondering who we can get to help us in the problem facing us?

Right now, I ask you to find a scrap of paper and write on it that which concerns you today. It could be a relational stress, a ministry matter, a financial pressure, a family issue.

After you write it down, spread it before the Lord and say,

• "Lord here it is. Like Hezekiah, I hear the footsteps and hoof beats of the mighty Assyrians headed my way. But instead of trying to take them on myself or ally with others, I choose to thank You for whatever You want to do in this situation. These are the matters that weigh me down, Lord. Free me of this burden as I lift it up to You."

• Do this, saint, and you will experience the peace of God that comes not from your understanding, but which passes your understanding—a peace that will stop the Assyrians in their tracks, and that will leave you rejoicing in the goodness of your Father.