Articles
Be Still and Know the Lord
By William Gaultiere, Ph.D.
Director of New Hope at the Crystal Cathedral
Psychologist, www.ChristianSoulCare.com
The
other day I was taking my morning jog around the
lake near my home. I was breathing heavy and listening
to my feet pound the pavement, step after step,
talking with God as I went. I became transfixed
by the glass-like surface of the lake. It reflected
the green trees and the blue sky and sparkled with
the morning sunlight. It was a picture of peace.
Then
the Lord impressed upon me the same words that He
spoke to David so many years ago, “Be still
and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Just
the words I needed to hear. Words that God is probably
speaking to me continually. Words that I only hear
when I am still.
Learning
to Be Still
At times my life is anything but still. Perhaps
you can relate. Family members with competing needs.
Relationships to nurture and to maintain. Work demands.
Ministry commitments. Errands to run. Projects to
finish. Mail and phone calls and e-mail to respond
to. These are all good things, but they become too
much when I forget to take a step back and focus
on what’s most important – God.
If
I’ve learned anything about the spiritual life
I’ve learned that when I’m busy and distracted
I miss God. If I’m hurrying, anxious, or under
pressure it’s hard to hear God. That’s
because God usually speaks in a still, small voice.
It’s like listening to my wife while anxiously
reading through my stack of mail. I’m not giving
her my attention. I’m not hearing her or connecting
with her. So I’ve learned to put down the mail
and look in her eyes when we need to talk.
It’s
not that God’s not there with us when we’re
rushing around or overcommitted. He’s there.
He’s always there loving us and guiding us
and blessing us, but we have to connect with Him.
We have to slow down the pace of our lives and our
minds in order to tune into Him, sense His presence,
and receive what He offers. We have to leave enough
space in our schedules and enough grace in our expectations
of ourselves to have the time and the energy and
the presence of mind to stay in contact with God.
There’s
a price to pay for being still and slowing down
the pace of your life. You get less done. You miss
out on opportunities. You don’t get high on
adrenalin. And at first you may not feel as significant
or as important. But you put yourself in a position
to connect with God and others and to give and receive
the love you need.
Be
Emotionally Present in the Moment
Once we slow down how do we connect with God? How
do we experience day to day the closeness with God
that we seek? The typical answer is to practice
the spiritual disciplines (which we’ll discuss
in a moment), but for these to be effective we need
to be connected with ourselves in the moment. We
need to be consciously alert, emotionally aware,
and present in the here and now. Our heart is the
only place we can connect with God. Now is the only
time it can happen.
Consider
these Scriptures:
•
Jesus taught us to pray to God, “Give us today our daily
bread” and He warned us, “Do not worry about tomorrow”
(Matthew 6:11,34).
• “I tell you know is the time of God’s favor,
now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
• Enjoy your activities, possessions, work, and relationships
today as the gift of God (Ecclesiastes 2:24, 3:22, 5:18-20).
• “God again set aside a certain day, calling it Today,
when a long time later he spoke through David… `Today, if
you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ …There
remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone
who enters God’s rest also rests from his work… Let
us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.” (Hebrews
4:7, 9-11)
In
order to rest in God’s care and to enjoy His
goodness to us in the moment we need to express
our feelings to Him. This is a good way to deal
with the distractions that lead our minds and hearts
away from God, even when we’re praying or reading
the Bible! For instance,
•
Instead of worrying about a problem pray to God about it.
• If you feel guilty confess your sin and ask for forgiveness.
• If you’re escaping into fantasy talk to God about
what’s missing in your life today.
Whatever
you’re feeling you can talk to God about it
and He’ll listen with care and this will help
you to feel closer to Him. This is helpful not only
with distractions, but with our experiences in the
moment we’re seeking God. I find that it helps
me to connect with God when I talk to Him about
what I’m experiencing while I’m worshiping
or reading the Bible or whatever spiritual discipline
I’m doing. For instance,
•
While I’m singing a praise song in corporate worship I often
pause and offer my own quite words of praise or thanks to God
or cry out to Him out of my place of need.
• When reading the Bible it helps me to pray about what I’m
reading or what I’m learning about myself.
• Sometimes I pray silently while I’m listening to someone
who needs help.
Invite
God into the Moment
A relationship is a two-way street, not a monologue.
To connect with God we need to not only express
ourselves, but hear from God. We need to learn from
God, receive His care, and hear what He has to say
to us. Obviously, this is not easy since God is
invisible!
There are many ways that we can hear from God and
receive from what we need. The most common ways
are through the practice of spiritual disciplines.
Some of the ones I’ve found helpful are Bible
study, prayer, worship, meditation on Scripture
or nature, confession of sin, silence and solitude,
communion, fasting, tithing, dialogue with a trusted
friend, journaling, and helping others in need.
These are all activities that help me to connect
with God.
I
believe that these spiritual disciplines are only
helpful if we approach them with the right attitude.
Done for their own sake they make us proud. Done
out of habit or duty they’re empty. Yes, they
take discipline and mental focus and work, but at
the same time we need to put our heart into them
and be ready to receive from God. Then they are
vehicles to relate with God, ways to put ourselves
in position to hear from God and to receive His
grace and truth into our hearts and lives.
When
practicing a spiritual discipline it helps me to
invite God to speak to me and to listen. For instance:
•
When I meditate on a Scripture I sometimes ask God to speak to
me about this passage and then I’ll wait and listen to what
I sense He’s showing me.
• When journaling I like to not only express my thoughts
and feelings to God, but write down what I think He might be saying
to me.
• In prayer, from time to time, I’ve asked God, “How
do you feel about me?” and I’ve been blessed by His
answer.
Listen
to God
One summer some years ago for family vacation I
went with my wife and three children to Forest Home
family camp for a week. We had a wonderful time
visiting with friends, swimming in the pool, listening
to some good Bible teaching, and just hanging out.
My favorite times though were spent at the creek
that flows down the mountain from Forest Falls,
the second largest waterfall in California. I was
so drawn to this creek. I visited it a number of
times, on a early morning hike with God, during
a walk with my six year old son as we went looking
for his lost shirt, in the wee hours of the mornings
with my baby who wouldn't sleep anymore, and other
times.
The
time at the creek I remember most fondly was the
day that I went there with my wife and we privately
spent an hour in prayer and reflection. I found
a rock to sit on and just sat there right next to
the creek and meditated. I put my feet in the cold
water. I basked in the hot son. I admired the mountains
in the background and listened to the birds sing
from tree to tree. And most of all I sat and listened
to God speak to me in the soothing sounds of this
creek as the waters streamed continuously through
the creekbed, splashed against the rocks, and swirled
on down the mountain. Why was I so drawn to this
creek? What was God saying to me here?
As
I sat quietly and listened I began to sense God’s
presence more and more. Then it started coming to
me. I felt impressed that God's message to me in
this creek was:
Let
me soothe your soul with my unending love. Breathe in the cool,
misty, fresh air.
Stop trying so hard. Don't try to control so much. Let go and
let me lead you. I will shape you and guide you even as this creek
has shaped and guided the creekbed.. Submit to me and see what
I will do in your life.
See the beautiful flowers at the water's edge, hear the birds
singing their happy songs, touch the tall, strong trees that line
the creek. With living water I'll nourish you in the same way.
Rest in my love and let me love you and love through you. I will
create in you beautiful flowers, happy sounds, and strong character.
“Be
still and know that I am God,” that's what
God was telling me. That’s just what I needed
to hear! And that's what I'm not able to hear when
I don't slow down and connect with my feelings and
my God in the moment.
I
pray that my experience encourages you too to be
still and know our Lord Jesus and His unfailing
love for you.
William
Gaultiere, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the
New Hope Crisis Counseling Center at the Crystal
Cathedral and a Clinical Psychologist with a part
time private practice in Irvine, California. You
can read Dr. Bill’s encouraging self-help articles
on www.ChristianSoulCare.com.
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