Be Still

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

Every day we are surrounded by noise.  The day begins by an alarm clock rudely interrupting our precious sleep dictating the precise moment that we’re supposed to wake up.  Of course we press snooze 8 or 9 times before rolling out of bed.  Then it starts… noise controls our day whether it’s the air conditioner or the refrigerator, the radio or the TV.  We leave our houses just in time to hear car doors slamming, children playing, and adults arguing.  We get in our cars and turn the key giving the engine permission to sing as the fan harmonizes and the air conditioner tries to keep up.  Out of habit we turn on the radio almost convinced that it is an essential part of operating a motor vehicle.

It’s no wonder that when by chance a moment of silence comes we hurry past it into the comfort of noise like a person puts on clothes to avoid being naked.  And then we wonder why it’s so hard to hear God speaking when we pray.  The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God”.  For someone to embrace silence it is a discipline at the very least and a gift at the most.  I mean we even expect God to speak or move in a loud or “noisy” way just short of a fireworks display.  Yet God chooses and almost prefers to speak out of the silence or stillness.

We see this concept in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah is hiding out in the mouth of the cave.  The Lord calls Elijah to stand on the mountain for he was about to pass by. As Elijah stands there a great and powerful wind tore the mountains and rocks apart, but God wasn’t in the wind.  Then there was an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake.  Then came a fire, but God wasn’t in the fire.  After all of that, the Bible says that then came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it he pulled his cloak over his face and went out to the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, “what are you doing here Elijah?”

God could have chosen to speak in any of those other loud and commanding ways, but He chose “a gentle whisper”.  Why?  I think a big reason is God desires closeness, He desires relationship, He desires intimacy.  We are programmed in our culture to get the answer, the assignment, or the order and move on quickly to the next thing.  Time is everything, efficiency is key.  Figure out how to quickly down load something from God and move on.  It’s like He’s a cosmic gum ball machine.  Put a quarter in and out pops your answer.

Yet sometimes it’s not about the answer and it’s not about the question, it’s just about being… being with Him.  And that’s it… No big revelation, no word from God for the day, and no intersession for the saints… just stillness.  God challenged me with this concept the other morning in my prayer time. I was alone pacing the sanctuary; at least I hope I was alone, just talking out loud to God. I was voicing frustration about having a hard time connecting with Him experientially in my one-on-one times with Him. He started showing me a mindset I have that says, “I need to do something or perform well for God to come close”. He asked me to just be still, don’t pray, don’t journal, don’t read, just be still. I've been trying to take 20 minutes a day and force myself to do this. It’s not natural but it’s rewarding and its forcing me to change a mindset that’s been engrained in me for a long time.

Quietness can be the most awkward feeling, or it can be soothing and intimate.  Someone once interviewed Mother Theresa asking her, “so when you talk to God what do you say?” She answered, “I don’t say anything… I listen”. “Ok”, he said, “So… when God talks to you what does He say?” “He doesn't say anything… He listens”, she replied.

What a concept!  To be in the company of God and not to be compelled to interrupt the silence, but to embrace it... to embrace Him.  A quote from the movie Ever After says, “Do not speak unless you can improve the silence.” Obviously prayer is powerful, especially praying out loud, but I'm convinced that the deeper my intimacy and quietness is with God the more on target my prayers will be. So let’s make a habit of pushing pause on the noise of the world around us and entering the place of silence that God desires for us.

Salvation isn't the ultimate goal

I’ve been around the church world a long time. I was practically born under a pew at church. Ok… that’s probably not true and definitely way too graphic of a mental picture. My parents have been pastors all of my life and are now currently the directors of the School of Global Leadership in Trinidad (right off the coast of Venezuela). My grandparents were pastors and my great grandparents were pastors. Pretty much all of my Uncles and Aunts on my dad’s side as well as many of my cousins have been in active ministry in a local church. A common theme in the church world, at least since I’ve been alive, has been “we must get people saved!” I tend to agree with that statement… well, actually I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.  I just have a slightly different perspective to share that I believe the Bible is really clear on… and most people miss it.

Salvation isn’t the ultimate goal. I don’t mean this as a shocker statement to get people to read this, I actually believe this is true. For years we’ve acted like we’ve accomplished the “Great Commission” (the final instructions of Jesus) if we get someone to say a prayer and “ask Jesus to come into their heart”. I’m not trying to make light of well intentioned people, because I know that the Lord by his grace has used some of these methods of old to bring people into His Kingdom. However, the last time I looked, Matthew 28 (Jesus speaking) says, “Therefore go and make disciples…” Jesus’ last words to his disciples that he hung out with for 3 ½ years was “now you go and make more disciples”. The “salvation prayer” is just the first step.

I believe that Salvation (in the traditional sense) is the very basic entry into the Kingdom of God. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about levels of Christianity or a works mentality. I’m really talking about identity and a quality of life that’s available for every believer. The Greek word for salvation is “sozo” which means to be saved, healed, and delivered.  The work of the cross not only accomplished more than just giving us a ticket to heaven or fire insurance, but it provided access to a life of freedom and power that I can tap into daily. We try so hard to “get people saved” so that they can go to heaven which is good, but a better approach is Matthew 6. Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray and he said, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Not only do we get to go to heaven someday, but Jesus instructs us to bring heaven to earth! We have the ability to bring heaven to the people we are ministering to.

My wife and I recently started a campus ministry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney called Vantage Point. I was praying for direction as this ministry was being birthed and I felt like the Lord led me to Ezekiel 47. I felt that it was a strange passage for the start of a campus ministry, but as I meditated on it the Lord gave me huge revelation. The glory of the Lord returned to the temple in this open vision that Ezekiel had.  The glory was in the form of a river flowing from the temple. Ezekiel was led first to water that was ankle deep, then to water that was knee deep, then waist deep, then the water was deep enough to swim in. Then finally Ezekiel was led back to the bank. I felt like the Lord told me that his desire is for people to get to the deepest part of the river and encounter him at a level of relationship that they’ve never known before… but… Every person has a starting place.

The ultimate goal of salvation is to experience, how high, and how wide, and how deep is the love of God and to understand our identity as sons and daughters of the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords. There is so much in store for people who chose Jesus, but as a minister I can’t get so caught up in the deep end that I never go back to the bank to reach people, and I can’t get so caught up in the ministry on the bank that I never get to the deep end.   

May my ultimate goal as a man of God be to get as many people from the bank to the deep end as possible!