Jump Start # 3794
Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”
Our verse today is more than just a call to slow down. We need that. There are many expressions that remind us of that, such as, “Stop and smell the roses.” Simon and Garfunkel had a song that began, “Slow down, you move too fast.” We live in a fast paced time. People are in a hurry. It seems that we are in a hurry all the time.
Other translations begin our verse with “Cease striving.” The Latin is even more specific, “vacate.” To vacate a place is to move out. At the end of a semester, college students pack up and move out of the dorms. They vacate. At the end of a vacation, we load up the car and head home. We vacate. I’ve had the “pleasure” of cleaning out more than one home that belonged to someone who passed away. Before the house could be sold, everything had to be cleaned out. Some items went to family members. Some to charity. And, a bunch to the dump. When we were done, the house was “vacated.”
Sticking with that Latin word, “Vacate,” the Psalmist is telling us to let God be God. Vacate our presence from His position and His role. In other words, Stop being God. We can’t do a good job of being God and we are extremely limited in what we know and what we can do.
Here are some thoughts on vacate:
First, rarely do we know everything. There is a lot of interests in the releasing of the JFK assassination files. The public believes we will finally know what happened. I doubt it. And, even if we did, we still won’t know the reasons why. We have our perspectives. We hear part of the story. We think we know motives. We must vacate and let God be God.
When we don’t, we can become very judgmental towards others. The Pharisees were like that. They thought they had everything figured out. They knew, so they thought. And, for us, we can be really critical on those who are weaker in faith and those who struggle. We think we know, but most times we don’t.
Second, our patience and ability to wait runs thin most times. This is why we must vacate and allow God to be God. Our hurry up nature, wants things done immediately. It takes time to grow a tree. It takes time to mature a person. God does things in His time, not our time. Some get ideas and concepts the first time through. Others have to let those thoughts simmer in their minds and hearts for a while. God knows. And, in our quest for speed, we can overlook things and not dedicate the time necessary to bring things about. Let God be God.
Third, our ideas may seem great to us, but they may not work well when put in action. This is why a home needs a father and a mother. This is why the church needs multiple shepherds. And, even with that, plans, goals, dreams and ideas may just fall flat. It’s hard for some to be content with the way God has established and designed things. We get our fingers into things and we start believing that we can shape the church in a way better than the Lord did. We come up with better ideas of evangelism. We come up with ideas to keep the young people where they are. And, sadly, history has shown that some of our ideas not only add layers of organization that is not in the Bible, they even leave the purpose and plan of God. Vacate. Let God be God. Do things God’s way. He knows.
But even in our personal lives, we must learn to vacate and allow God to be God. We want to try to fix things that we cannot fix. We want to try every option but God’s way. We stress. We worry. We get frustrated. And, if we only ceased striving, became still, and vacated, and took our problems to the Lord at the beginning, rather than after we tried everything else first, we would be much better. Let God be God.
We don’t have to know the answer to every question. We don’t have to understand the “whys” of this world. We don’t have to have a solution to every problem. When we operate that way, one wonders why we even need God. We need the Lord because we can’t. We can’t survive without Him. We don’t have all the answers. We can’t see into tomorrow. We don’t understand why some people do what they do.
And, when we finally get to that point, it is then that we begin to trust the Lord and allow God to be God. He has a divine purpose. No armies, no chariots, no kings, can undermine and alter the plans of God. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
And, that will lead you to simply saying, “God’s got this.” Bad news, “God’s got this.” Some stressful times, “God’s got this.” Facing lions, “God’s got this.” How about a fiery furnace? “God’s got this.” Prison doors of life shut around you. “God’s got this.” Storms in your heart and life, “God’s got this.”
We may not know the outcome or how we will get there, but there’s one thing we do know, “God’s got this.”
Be still. Cease striving. Vacate. Let God do what He’s good at, being God.
Roger