Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God”
The Lord God Almighty who promises to be with us, even if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, calls us to “be still and know he is God” (Psalm 46:2;10). I’m working on it.
I’m trying to become more conscious of God’s presence. Not just in morning devotions, or Sunday services, or when people ask me to pray for them, but in every part of my life. I want to sense his presence when I walk across campus, when I prepare a meal, when I’m sitting in my spot at Barnes & Noble. I want to be like the early Christians Mark Buchannan describes in his book, Your God Is Too Safe. He writes “how unconscious the people were of their consciousness of God.” They lived and breathed the awareness of God. And they didn’t have to strive to make it happen.
The thought of being so conscious of God that I’m unconscious of it, grabs hold of my heart like a sunset on Cadillac Mountain, Maine. Beautiful. Big. Haunting. How do you learn to see through the secular to the sacred? How do you let unceasing prayer capture your thoughts? And can you get to the place where you hear God’s voice whispering through music, conversations and newscasts?
Of course, it begins with the first part of Psalms 46:10…. Be still. Not an easy task in our noisy world.
I have a friend who’s been experiencing the same longing to be more aware of God’s presence. The two vertical parallel lines (||) on his TV remote—the pause symbol—came to mind. He felt the Lord directing him throughout the day to raise his arms in similar fashion (||), pause and focus on Him. In essence, take a moment to be still and know God is God.
Although it sounds a bit unorthodox, I decided to try it. I was surprised at how that simple physical motion tore right through my thoughts and redirected me to His. Even if just for a few minutes, arms lifted in pause became arms lifted in praise.
This discipline may not work for you. But I pray the Holy Spirit leads you in some way to grab the remote. Push pause. And in the quiet, consider God.