Be Still and Know

At this late stage in my life, I am at long last learning to set aside the drive to produce in favor of being still. Psalm 46:10 tells me to "be still and know that I am God." While productivity and connectivity are both valuable, they often cause us to forget to be still. When we prioritize connectivity over stillness, we are in danger of missing out on the most important connection our our lives —Jesus.

God has not called us to produce. He has called us to holiness. In order to pursue holiness, we have to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit and we cannot live in the power of the Spirit if we are striving in our own power. To be still does not always mean to be immobile; it's not just an outward position. Stillness is spiritual posture, one of refusing to strive in our own power. In fact, in Psalm 46:10, to “be still” means to “cease striving.”

Was I asleep, nearly asleep, or half-awake I do not know - -

but I do know that I heard a whisper, "Wait."

Recently, while struggling under the weight of an avalanche of tasks and responsibilities and feeling utterly overwhelmed, the Lord spoke to me in a vision. I call it a vision because I don't have another word for it. Just as I was drifting into sleep I saw a powerful eagle perched upon a lofty ledge near the top of a mountain. He sat remarkably still, moving only his head from side to side. Was I asleep, nearly asleep, or half-awake I do not know - - but I do know that I heard a whisper, "Wait."

After what seemed to be a long time, the eagle suddenly spread his wings as a powerful wind swept upward from the valley below and caught him, hurling him into the heavens. There was no flapping of wing, no trying or striving . . . he just rode upon the back of a mighty wind into the face of the sun.

When I awakened in the morning I lay in my bed for a while . . . just being still. Somehow I knew the Lord would speak more to me. I reached for my Bible and turned to the Book of Isaiah chapter 40 where I read these words:

"Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not faint, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.

He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might; he increases strength. Even the youths will faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like the eagle; they shall run and not be weary; and they will walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

I preached from this text on Sunday morning, but the Spirit of God has continued to open my eyes to the powerful truth in that vision of the eagle. I taught my people on Sunday morning about the wind and the mounting up with wings like eagles. I reminded us of how Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1:4, "Go to Jerusalem and wait. . ." I opened the scriptures to Acts 2:2 and read how the Holy Spirit came into the upper room where the disciples were waiting, like a mighty, rushing wind. It was powerful truth, and at the end our altar was filled with men and women crying out for the wind to come and loft us into heavenly places. And yet for me, there is more.

This week the Spirit of God took me back to that mountain where once again I gazed upon that powerful eagle. Last Monday I watched in awe as he spread his wings to mount up upon that powerful wind to be swept up into the heavens. Today, I saw more. I was able to see deeper, and for the first time I took note not of the wind, not of the mounting up, but of the stillness; and as I pondered these things I came to understand that before the wind came, the eagle was still . . . he was waiting . . . expecting . . . trusting . . .and I remembered that in that first encounter the Spirit did not say to me "fly" . . . He did not say "mount up" . . . He said "wait."

In 1 Kings 19, the Prophet Elijah was standing upon Mount Horeb when he observed that: "the there was a wind, but the lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a Elijah heard the Lord speak . . . in a "still small voice."

It was then that I realized that for the eagle, stillness preceded the mounting up. Scientist tell us that the eagle is a master at discerning the wind. As he stills himself and listens, he can hear the wind as it races up the mountain toward him. Because he waits, because he listens, he can discern the approaching wind and when it comes, he is ready. He spreads his wings and leaps into the abyss only to be carried effortlessly to unimaginable heights, soaring above the majestic peaks to rule the skies.

I realized that living in such a frenetic world where everything and everyone is moving with an undefined urgency, from time to time I need to make room for stillness. God will not shout above a cacophony of useless noise. He whispers to those who will be still.

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