Of Stillness & Simplicity

We live in such a fast-paced world that many times we get burned out by our life's speed. It seems that you and I are always on the run and we rarely have time to breathe. How can we possibly slow down when culture pushes us faster? What do we have to do to get ourselves a little slice of stillness & simplicity? The following is a devotional entry I wrote in March of 2007. I recently ran across it in a box of papers and wanted to share it with you. It is based on Psalm 4. I hope it blesses your life as much as it has recently blessed mine.

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"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah. Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. In your anger do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah." (Psalm 4:1-4)

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It's easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. We seem to keep ourselves occupied with activities all day and many nights, so much so that I think we tend to lose communication with our God, who often speaks in stillness and simplicity. I think of Elijah, who ran to Mt. Sinai after his great victory on Mount Carmel scared for his life because a crazy queen wanted him dead. On that holy mountain God showed His glory first in a strong wind, then an earthquake, and then a massive fire. But God's voice was not in any of those impressive displays. No, it was in a gentle breeze that the Lord whispered to Elijah. In stillness and simplicity.

Our Lord often withdrew from the multitudes, and even from His disciples, in order to find some stillness and simplicity (see Matt 14:23; 26:36; Mark 6:46). He knew that there was a need for us to withdraw from our busyness and calm our hearts and minds. It's a lesson that we all could benefit from in this day and age.

Psalm 4 is an example of one man's plea for stillness and simplicity. King David is recorded crying out his distressed heart before the Lord, begging for an answer to his worry. He is being hounded by various tribulations, men who seek to bring him down -- deceptive men who worship another god. David's mind was worried and his heart was anything but still. As a result, he had trouble hearing the voice of God, though he knew he could hear Him if he was to still his heart. God listens to the righteous. But will He respond? David believes that God will answer him. But before he hears God, David prescribes several action steps for himself.

First, do not get angry with God, which is sin. Be mad at unrighteousness but let your anger stay there. Don't direct it anywhere else. Second, meditate quietly upon your bed. David says to meditate "in your heart." When you are troubled, pray to God just as David prayed. Finally, he says the most important thing to himself -- be still. Literally, "to rest in silence." We live in such a busy age that the last thing we need to do when distressed is distract ourselves. This only prolongs the problem. We don't need to start doing more things, getting busier and busier. We need to be still and know that He is God. We need to drop what we're doing and turn to Him in our distress. And in doing so I think we'll learn the great value of stillness and simplicity.

Be God's.