Courageous Joy

BE STILL and KNOW that I am GOD… another lesson in my ongoing year of lessons on surrender

I am a member of our region’s PWOC board. In the midst of trying to catch up from leave, start a new school year, start a new PWOC year/Bible Study, and take care of my duties in the region…….I made a desperate comment to the board. “I’ve decided to skip September in the future.” A dear friend on the board replied, “This sounds like a great homeschool Mom’s motto.” ::snort::

This is a busy season for me. Sept (and Feb) can easily become frenzied. I can begin to feel that I’m slipping, that I’m going to drown in obligations, that I can’t possibly accomplish all that I’ve been called on to accomplish……and in the midst of it all what does my Lord whisper to me during our trysts? In the very time when I’m “focused” (my righteous word for locked like a laser beam on my GOALS), He says to me over and over, “Be STILL and KNOW that I am GOD; I WILL be exalted among the heathen, I WILL be EXALTED in the earth.” Ps 46:10 (KJV)

STILL? Mike has been trying for months to find a time for me to get away for a weekend. He recognizes, as do I in my sane moments that even high energy women need to be STILL.

STILL? Just sit? It goes against the intrinsic definition of SEPTEMBER! STILL?

Still – Hebrew word Rapah – strongs # 7503. We are told that context is important in defining this word because it can mean a variety of things, “become slack, relax, cease, desist, become discouraged, disheartened, weak, feeble, to let it drop, to leave alone, to let go, to forsake, abandon, be lazy”

“Uh God, you KNOW this is S*E*P*T*E*M*B*E*R right? I mean not on YOUR calendar it is Tisrah or something, but in my world this is S*E*P*T*E*M*B*E*R!”

He continues to say, “STILL, De’Etta….KNOW me, I WILL be EXALTED.”

Still…relax, let it drop, leave it alone…..there are times that I need to let it all go…there are times that I’m called to continue my activities but to do it in a spirit of stillness. The NASB translates the phrase as “Cease striving”.

This theme recurred in, “Saturday with Stella’s” a book that explores the metaphor of obedience training of dogs with our relationship with Christ. Mrs. Pittman writes, “To settle goes beyond simply sitting or lying down. A settled dog is on its back, belly exposed, mouth slack, ears flopped. A settled dog is not asleep, but fully awake, aware of its vulnerability, completely at ease with its master. “ P 17. I’ve been working on teaching Beatrix, our dog, to settle. I most often look like the photo of her I tried to capture while she settled. ::snort::


(I’m giving a copy of this book away on my blog.)

“OK, I’m still! NOW what?”

“Know that I am GOD!”

Ah, Yada, I have this imprinted on my checks, from a previous time of study. I get it. As I let it go, as I cease striving, as I go limp in His presence, as I settle; I begin to know God not simply intellectually but I begin to experience intimacy with Him. He is GOD and He WILL be exalted…..my busy activity isn’t totally essential for Him to be exalted. He’s God.

In all my roles, the bottom line is that I WANT HIM to be exalted. I want to reflect well on HIM……so I will be STILL… I will settle and I will experience intimacy with my Lord. This is more essential than any other deadline. He will be exalted in my role as military spouse, pastor’s spouse, regional board member, homeschool teacher, mom, wife, Bible Study teacher, co-op organizer……

I will above all “Be still and know that He is God!”

©2008 D.R.G.