Photo courtesy of Sharon Fox of Lincolnton, NC
Last Christmas, my husband presented me with an unusual gift. It was a square throw-pillow with the words “Be Still” printed on it. I love it. It sits quietly on my couch now, reminding me not to let the random hurry and scurry of daily life keep me distracted.
God says the same thing through the Psalmist in Psalm 46:10.
“Be still; I will be exalted; the nations and the earth will know me.” (paraphrase mine)
Essentially, God is telling us that He will be known “without,” or “in spite of” our well-meaning actions. In fact, perhaps our frantic hurried-ness to “do the right thing” takes away from God’s glorious reputation in the world of human beings.
Part of the “being still” is having a Sabbath time each week. “Time to be created instead of creator,” says Abraham Joshua Heschel. God took a Sabbath after creating the world (Genesis 2:2-3). Think about verse 3 and how you can stamp value on all you have done in the previous 6 days. Think about how to make those things holy.