Cease striving and know that I am God
"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted among the earth." Psalm 46:10
IN other translations of the bible, it says "Be still and know that I am God"... while in the NASB translation, it says "Cease striving". I think this translation conveyed exactly what God wanted, for His people to cease striving and know that He is God. Remember, the instruction is not only to cease striving; it is to know that God is God. In order to know God, our strivings must cease... and in the quietness and stillness of the soul, the heart longs to know God and only God. ‘Knowing’ is not just about being informed... it is really a holy intimacy with the Almighty!
‘Cease striving’ can be a general statement, but believe me, it gets into specifics. Let us try and find out but allow me some latitude to use my imagination for a while. Actually, cease striving can mean cease anything that blocks you from knowing God. It may look like these:
• Cease demanding and know that I am God.
• Cease lobbying and know that I am God. • Cease insulting others and know that I am God. • Cease flattering and know that I am God. • Cease controlling and know that I am God... and so on and so forth.
To help you personalize it, you can say on your own after prayerfully searching your heart, after really listening to God. You fill in the blank. Here is your chance: Cease ___________ and know that I am God. You can only fill the blank if you would lower your shield and not be defensive. In prayer, ask God to supply the word for the blank. Believe me, it will help you spiritually! I must add... do not fill the blank for someone else, fill up your own blank, and whatever the answer, do not compare or add. Yes, this blank is very, very personal and very, very liberating when we honestly fill ours.
What, then, is the true meaning and the relevant application of Psalm 46:10... especially these words "cease striving and know that I am God”? Consider these 5 spiritual principles and hopefully, it will become a delightful practice in each of our lives. Cease striving or being still means: 1. It is not about doing nothing — it is about giving complete attention to Someone (God).
2. It is not just indifference; it is a Holy Indifference to lesser things to give way to Holy Intimacy with the Almighty.
3. It is ceasing to worry... to give way to a lifestyle of worship.
4. It is not a gamble of pretentious silence... it is actually choosing solitude that we may savor the company of the One who gives victory.
5. It is not an effort to earn the favor of God, rather, it is a privilege enjoyed and endured in grace, a venue by which we respond to God in faith.
Being still is a dynamic choice to be silent; a delightful discipline to prayerfully bring ourselves to a complete focus on God and listen to what He is saying through His words, the Bible; through Prayer; through the experiences and circumstances around us. Believe me, this is not an easy task! It requires desperate humility to ask God to help us be quiet inside. And once ‘being still’ is a lifestyle and ‘cease striving’ is now a core value and are authentically practiced in our lives, we experience the peace that is brought by the Presence of God more than the presents from God! Thanks for your time reading. I always write from my heart. Enjoy this new day as God's gift of grace to you.