Quiet the Jungle

Life is not for the ill-equipped! I remember words from a past television show: "Be careful -- it's a jungle out there." Life really is a jungle and most of us aren’t good at safaris!  The life-jungle with all its creepy-crawlies cause us to lose focus on The King -- Jesus Christ.  The psalmist describes God's Power in this world: "Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire." (Psalm 46:8-9).  God - Creator and Master of all things in heaven and earth - subdues evil and gives "refuge and strength, ever-present help in trouble" (V.1).  How can we know and feel the Power described here, feel His Presence, have confidence and hope when the future isn't clear, when our faith is weak, when answers elude us? He tells us: "Be still, and know that I am God." (V.10). Really now, be still?  In this constantly moving world, be still?  Yes, He instructs us to cease from striving, quit the busyness, stop rushing around, flitting about, just ... stop and be still!  I have heard The Father most often and most clearly when I was doing less.  Just quietly listening, patiently waiting, in the stillness of a moment … I heard Him, I saw Him, I knew Him.  Let me encourage you today to find a stopping-place: a quiet car, the library, an outdoor bench, a porch swing, an open Bible on the kitchen table.  Wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself, just stop and let God quiet the jungle.  He waits for you there!  Be still and know Him!