There are times that we feel like, ‘God should know better’. Sometimes we expect God to act in a particular way, we expect Him to come into our situation with the speed of thunder. As the disciples asked Jesus in their frustration, we tend to also ask a similar question when life seems to be drowning us: “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). In response to the disciples’ frustration, “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (Mark 4:39). The answer to the waging storm was stillness. Jesus did not mince words, He went straight to rebuke the storm and then “He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40) He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10) The answer to life’s raging storms is stillness. But how can we be still in the midst of storms? Our bodies are wired to respond to our environment. Every event sends signals to the brain and the whole body reacts accordingly. Happiness, joy, sadness, fear, frustration, anger, worry, depression etc. stem from the signals we receive from our environment and send to our brains. Whatever you feed your brain with, your situation will react to it. Thus, if all the stimuli trigger fear, worry and pain, you are bound to live in a perpetual state of anxiety. Jesus doesn’t want us to be unaware of our environment but He wants our response to the stimuli to be different. The Psalmist discovered this, he came to understand that in the midst of life’s challenges, he needs to be in God’s stilled course. God says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalms 46:10). Yes, we have to be still! Stillness in the presence of God doesn’t mean doing nothing. It is about trusting in God, putting your faith in God and learning to obey God even in the most unlikely situation. Sleeping all day and night does not bring stillness. In fact, we need to be intentional about building up our most holy faith. We need to study what God’s word says about the situations we go through. We need to meditate on His word in our stillness. We need to create an atmosphere of prayer and praise. Even when we are terrified, we should understand that the voice of the Lord is obeyed by even the winds and the waves, therefore our situations should not be difficult for the Lord. While we wait, we should know that God’s response could be “Yes, No or Wait” and each response is based on the long term effect of our request. Like many of us, my desire has always been to get a “Yes” from God. But, sometimes the best answers are “No” and “Wait”. Be still in the Lord. He is working for your good.
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