Be still and know….

You hear the news. Your heart pounds. Your chest feels tight. You clench your teeth. You hunch your shoulders. Your mind races in a million directions.

You’re watching the TV news. 

A sign was taped to the TV at the aged care home I visited today. “In the interest of mental health, please do not watch the TV news in common areas. Residents may watch the news in their own rooms. Programs viewed in common areas are restricted to those with positive content.”

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
 I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) 

Six degrees of separation

You know someone who knows someone who might have the virus. You saw ‘your’ someone just days ago and that someone saw ‘their’ someone a few days before that.

Your mind manically goes through the list of everyone you have seen over the last couple of days. You swallow hard, trying to sense if your throat is at all sore. Is that the start of a tickle? Is your chest a little tight? Is your forehead a touch warm? 

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
 I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) 

Sitting

Today I walked by the river. I stopped and sat on a fallen log. The sun warmed my back. I admired the delicacy of a sprig of ‘Patterson’s Curse’, even though I know it’s officially a weed. A lizard darted in front of me.

I just sat, trying to still my busy mind. 

I remembered sitting along this same stretch of river almost five years ago, trying as best I could ‘to be still and know’ that Yahweh is God. That was just before a six-week patch when I would have radiation five days a week and chemo once a week. Back then, the odds of being able to be there again today weren’t even. 

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
 I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) 

Still

When we stop, be still and focus on the God who is exalted, our jaws relax, our breathing slows and our galloping hearts settle into gentle rhythms.

Nothing has changed.

Yet everything has changed. 

I am over-the-moon grateful to be strong and healthy today. But even if I weren’t … even if things hadn’t turned out the way I had hoped and prayed for … God would still be God. 

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
 I will be exalted in the earth.”

Help us, exalted Lord, to be still.