STOP AND SEE

When my optician says, “Be still,” I am still. I don’t argue. I don’t ignore him and do what I want. Why? Because he is trying to look after my sight, and he needs my cooperation. I would be stupid to ignore his instructions.

So why am I not as cooperative when it comes to trusting God? God says rest is so important that He built it into the routine of life. Without rest we can’t see clearly; we begin to see ourselves as more important than we are.

After Elijah’s stressful stand off with Ahab and Jezebel, he ran himself into a state of depression and exhaustion. God sent an angel to care for him. During a time of stillness, “the word of the LORD came to him” (1 KINGS 19:9). Elijah thought he alone was doing God’s work. He had been so caught up in his own work that he didn’t know that 7,000 others hadn’t bowed to Baal, a
fake god (V.18).

Some of us may worry about what will happen if we sit still and stop trying to fix things on our own. Yet something worse happens when we refuse to rest with God. Without rest we cannot keep relying on God. God looks after us while we rest.

Just as I needed stillness so that my optician could help me, we all need stillness so that God can keep us steady.

Thinking it over . . .

How often do you simply stop and rest with God? Why is this quality time with Him so important? What sort of things get in the way and distract you from time alone with God?

OUR GREATEST STRENGTH MAY BE OUR ABILITY TO STOP AND TRUST GOD.

YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries