Be still and know
By TIM SULLIVAN
Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church
This year Donna and I are experiencing an "empty nest." Since Melanie enrolled at K-State this fall, she is around even less often than last year when she was at Tabor College. We have noticed this strange but welcome quietness about our home. We miss our children but enjoy the peace that comes with not having to be present at all of their school activities. Our lives have slowed
Our culture today values busyness. We have created a lifestyle which thrives on the adrenaline rush we get from being so incredibly busy. For the most part, each of these activities is wonderful, but the result is often a frantic state of busyness — a state often void of depth of relationships, significant purpose and genuine satisfaction in life.
We are all given the same 24 hours in every day. Yet most of us generally try to pump far too much into this precious time: there are football games to attend, soccer games for the little ones, dance lessons, church activities, business meetings, community events, recreational activities, etc. You can fill in your own list!
As our activity level increases, it becomes more and more difficult to hear God, nearly impossible to ponder the meaning of His truth and walk in the contentment of His presence. For this reason, God gives us a gentle reminder — actually, He gives us a firm command: "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
There are many things in life which are good — many good people and good activities that require, or at least desire, our time. While God definitely calls us to serve and minister to one another, we must understand that constant busyness impedes our ability to hear God. To maintain effective communication with God and nurture a sense of His peace, we have to make time, and put forth the "effort" to simply stop and rest in His strength.
The temptation is to cry out that we don't have time to stop and be still
