Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
I promised myself not to become an old man stuck in the past, but to keep moving forward. Now here I am quoting my drill sergeants and tac officers from 43 years ago.
Everything in the military was about movement. The most used command in training and in the field was MOVE!!
Move or die.
Move it (what ever IT may be).
Move and you don’t need ‘sniffle gear.’
Move and the critters don’t eat you.
That is a great reflection of what the world teaches. I have been proven time and again that it works! It is worldly wisdom. All the move commands above apply to the real, physical life. If you take a nap during the day you can get mosquito bites which can lead to dengue. Sleeping on the ground at night in the boonies will get you eaten by a lot more than mosquitoes. If you keep moving outside when it’s cold you don’t need a coat. Movement keeps you warm. If you sit around all day, stagnate, you die. In battle you are a sitting target if you don’t move continuously.
We as believers, however, have a source which is much higher and wiser on top of what the world teaches..
Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Being still has to do with the heart. Many borderline believers use it as a spiritual cop out. They use it as a biblical excuse to be lazy, selfish and inconsiderate. Like many things in the bible that are taken out of context, it turns a healing word from the Lord into something vile and blasphemous. We are told to be anxious for nothing, yet at the same time we are told to go out of our way for others. David, on the rooftops at a time when the kings go to battle, is a perfect example of what happens to a believer that doesn’t keep moving. The good samaritan (a member of a false church) was the crazy, extravagant God lover.
God’s attributes, like the crazy and extravagant love, are something that we get when we are saved, when the King of the Universe comes to dwell in our hearts. Being still means to wait and trust in God. We know who is defending us. Being still is confidence. I am a lot more confident in God’s abilities than in my own.
Being still also means we don’t have to run around the world trying to minister to everyone. God has it perfectly under control. Being still means we get to do a great job with those in front of us. Praise God that He wants us to be still here, with our couple of hundred children. Our presence here every day allows the children to have confidence in God. They see us, extravagantly, crazily in love with them, catering to their whims as much as possible and they see that their Creator is not only ‘Not Angry’ with them, but loves them very much. It is so much easier to talk to someone when you trust them and know they truly love you and that they aren’t angry.
Dean