Building Confidence By Being Still

 "Be still, and know that I am God." 

 (Psalm 46:10a NKJV)

 

    How do we build up our faith and maintain our confidence while this fearful pandemic is causing the world to reel?  

 

    By being still and trusting in God!!

    "Be still" is often thought to mean "be calm" - something akin to that popular British wartime slogan, "Keep Calm and Carry On" - but it actually means something more than that. The Hebrew root behind the phrase "be still" is 'raphah' which means 'to let go,' 'to release,' "to surrender,' 'to be weak,' even to 'die to ourselves.'

    It is only when we let go and surrender to God that we begin to live by faith. We surrender knowing that God is in control! We surrender to learn that His word IS truth and His promises ARE real!

• It is only when we surrender our anxieties that we come to know His peace (Philippians 4:6-7)
• It is only when surrender our desire for continued youth and vigor that we come to know His strength (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) 
• It is only when we surrender our grudges and feelings for revenge that we come to know His goodness, His mercy, and His love (Matthew 5:38-48, Romans 12:17-21)
• It is only when we surrender the wearing of exhaustion as a status symbol that we come to know His rest (Psalm 121:2, Matthew 11:28-30) 
• It is only when we surrender our determination "to face it alone" that we come to know His abundant help and comfort (Hebrews 4:14-16, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
• It is only when we surrender our sin that we come to know His forgiveness (1 John 1:8-10, Acts 2:37-38)
• It is only when we surrender our very lives to Him, that we come to know the life we can have in Jesus - learning His way, His truth, and His righteousness through humble obedience to His word (Proverbs 1:7; 3:5-6, Matthew 16:24-26, Galatians 2:20)!

    When we come to know these aspects of God we can willingly "let go and let God" and like the psalmist, we too, can declare, "God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1)! 

    God wants us to trust Him! He provided the Holy Scriptures to us so that we may learn of His power and might, His majesty and glory, His wisdom and provision, His justice, His abiding love, and His will for us - so that we may confidently surrender our all to Him, and put our trust wholly in Him!

    Having a complete trust in Him keeps us from fear, even if the world crumbles around us, even if the waves crash and the mountains quake (Psalm 46:2-3, all metaphors for the troubles and trials of life), we will not fear! It won't be because of anything we have done, not because we have vigorously trained ourselves to be composed in the face of disaster, not because we have seen so many trials that we are now numb to them, non, we will not fear and we will gladly "be still" because of what we know of God!! 

    We know that God is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe! We know that God is magnificent, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent! He has been and always will be the VICTOR! He will be exalted among the nations, He will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10b)!

    Knowing what God has done in the past and what He continues to do in the present, gives us calm assurance of what He can and will do in future!

 

    Do you want to increase your faith and confidence? Learn of God through His word, trust in Him through humble obedience; be still and know that God IS GOD!! 

 

"You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "and My servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He...

Therefore you are My witnesses," says the LORD, "That I am God."

(Isaiah 43:10a, 12b, NKJV)