In the pre-dawn hush of this snowy Missouri morning, the verse in Psalm 46:10 is settling into my heart. “Be still and know that I am God”. This morning has been a pause between work and celebration and, with no one else awake, I’ve been meditating on the peace that He brought 2,000 years ago.
Where is it? Certainly not in the political sphere. Our nation seems more divided than ever. Around the world millions of war-weary refugees have fled their homes. New fears of nuclear weapons threaten the very birthplace of our Savior. Everything not surrendered to His authority can never know His peace. When He said, “Peace, be still”, the winds and waves were instantly stilled. The elements have no contravening will power. But we, with our free-will, are still battling, still struggling.
But we, individually, can know His peace and this morning I’m mulling how it comes by degrees. Remember the peace of conscience that came when we accepted His forgiveness? I have a vivid memory of the joy of that moment, but it did not end our struggles, did it? If you are like me, every day He shines light on more dark places in us and, poof! any peace we are feeling disappears. I almost wish He would quit it. But what I’m seeing so clearly is that peace only comes through surrender, and the first steps are to let Him point out those self-controlled areas of our lives, to let Him open each closed door of our hearts, to let Him, bit by bit, be Lord of all of me.
So, step by step, I come to know that He is God. And little by little I find His stillness. “Divine stillness is an experience we are to enter through many testings, by inward training of the soul, by not only ceasing from sin and … ambition, but being conquered by … the Holy Spirit in all the details of life, by being subdued into that abiding hush like the breathless quietness of a serene sunset after the storms … after the clouds have melted … after the tired winds have sunken below the whisper point.” (Bridehood Saints, G. D. Watson)
From the bottom of my heart I wish that you, my much loved friends and family, might truly know the Prince of Peace this season.
With lots of love,
Larry and Kathi