Learning to be still

'"BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD..."' PSALM 46:10 KJV

Former CBS anchorman, Dan Rather, found himself unprepared for a television interview with Mother Teresa. Ron Mehl described the encounter this way: 'All of Dan's standard approaches were inadequate. And the little nun from Calcutta didn't seem inclined to make his task easier’. 'When you pray,' asked Dan, 'what do you say to God?' 'I don't say anything,' she replied. 'I listen.' Dan tried another tack. 'Well, okay.. .when God speaks to you, then, what does He say?' 'He doesn't say anything. He listens.' Dan looked bewildered. For an instant, he didn't know what to say. 'And if you don't understand that,' Mother Teresa added, 'I can't explain it to you.'

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

It's in the place of silence that the Holy Spirit boils the truth we receive from Scripture down to its essence, reveals specific insights that are pertinent, and then applies them to our most perplexing problems and our most stubborn misconceptions. As He transforms our heart to beat in sync with His, our decisions begin to accomplish His will and we begin to reflect His character.

Go ahead, try it. Open the Word of God in a peaceful place and sit in quietness before Him. In time, the Holy Spirit will illuminate a passage and it will come to life in your mind. Before you know it, the knotty situation that drove you to distraction will unravel. As you learn to 'be still' in God's presence, your greatest problems will suddenly become more manageable. He will reveal Himself to you. He will calm your emotions and relieve your mind. You'll discover new direction, freedom from worry, and a fresh sense of peace.

Hungering for God's Word

A baby won't rest until its hunger is satisfied. It's irrelevant that mummy's been up all day and is tired. 3 am means nothing. When a baby is ready to eat, the world stops.

Peter referred to God's Word as 'pure milk,' which means undiluted, the real stuff. As the old commercials used to say: 'no substitutes added.' Pure milk is the opposite of a dummy, which looks real but provides no nourishment. Too many of us are spiritually undernourished because we're feeding on substitutes. We're teething on dummies instead of drinking the pure milk of the Word. No baby ever grew feeding on a dummy. Don't get fooled into accepting anything but the authentic, undiluted truth of Scripture.

1Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

What's more, the only truth that will cause you to grow is the truth that's heard - and put into action. And notice something else: babies don't drink all the milk they can in two hours on Sunday morning. Yet that's what we do, and then we wonder why we're not growing in God. Babies eat regularly for one simple reason -they're hungry.

Why don't we feed on God's Word more than we do? Either because we aren't hungry for it, or because we've been trying to satisfy our hunger with dummies and substitutes. Understand this: without a daily diet of God's Word you'll end up weak and vulnerable to defeat! Only when you want to hear from God through His Word more than you want to eat, are you on your way to developing a healthy hunger for the Scriptures.

If you plan to do it - do it now!

Redwood trees last for 1,000 years. Most other things go relatively fast. A face lift lasts 6-10 years, a £5 note one year, a painted white line on the road only four months. 'What about me?'

The average life span is between 75-80 years of age. That sounds pretty good if you're young, but tends to be sobering when you pass 50. The Bible says your life is like a vapour, and vapours aren't known for longevity; just a puff of smoke and they're gone! So why are you still waiting? You don't have forever, get at it!

James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.


You may say that you have always wanted to play the piano. Stop talking about it, and start taking lessons! Or that you have always dreamed of a trip to the Holy Land; start planning and call a travel agent. You say you hate your living room wallpaper, quit complaining - scrape it off and paint it the colour you like! You say you feel better when you exercise, start jogging or some other exercise that you may enjoy!

You say you're angry about the potholes in your street; go to your Town Hall meeting! You say you want to make a mark for God; talk to your pastor, and remember, you start at the bottom, not the top!

Think you're too old? Not a chance! Consider one of the greatest pianists that ever came from Russia only learned to play the piano at 56 years old. The older folks in God's Word often made the biggest impact. So get out of neutral and get going. Time is not on your side, and if there is something bothering you, that you can do, do it and make a start. If you discover it was the wrong thing to do, stop, back track quickly and cover your losses. Either way you will have peace of mind because that is what you do not have now. But act and stop moaning, put your life into God's hands and let him show you what He can do with it!


This is not the best article I have put into this web site, but I have done so as I feel many people need to hear it, including myself. I am fed up of saying I need to do, … and don’t because of lethargy or some great plausible excuse, when deep down I know I am fooling myself. Take for example this web site, I have put it off for years, and when I did start I spent many many days studying what and how to do it. At my age, this was very difficult, but thinking back, I am still not sure of the computer, but I have come a long way, and have made a good start. What loses are there If it fails, well I certainly missed a lot of television. So you answer the question, what was more important?