Still & Quiet - How?

A couple of days ago we looked at Psalm 131 and focused in on verse 2: But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Again, the imagery given in this Psalm is that of a hungry infant being held by his mother but not striving to be fed by his mother’s milk because he’s been weaned. This child is waiting for and expecting the more substantive food that he has now become accustomed to.

As believers in the loving God, we are encouraged as well to still and quiet our soul. But how? Let’s look at the scriptures and see what we can learn.

In Jeremiah 17, the prophet says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man…But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water     that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Our ability to be stilled and quieted comes from our trust in the Lord but we must develop that first through prayer. Ask the Lord to help you to rest in Him. You see, the Lord is the only one in Whom we can truly trust. He is the all-knowing and all-powerful God and He is the precious one Who tends to our soul! Our circumstances will change. People who love us dearly will disappoint us. We will try our hardest and fail. But God, the only wise God, is our Rock. He is the consistent component in our lives. Part of being able to be still and quiet; to not be in constant strife, comes from asking the Lord to help you see Him as your stability and source and then to rest in that truth.

1 Peter 2:25 - For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Secondly, we must give up the notion that we can make sense of and understand everything. God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours! We cannot understand it all and striving to do so will 1) make us crazy and discontent 2) be an exercise in futility, and 3) is our way of telling God that we don’t really need Him. At the beginning of Psalm 131, David says “I’m not proud…I don’t concern myself with things too wonderful for me.” It is our pride and arrogance that drives us to seek to know it all rather than walking in a faith posture and being ok with the unknown. Nothing is unknown to God. Therefore, we can stop trying to know and understand it all; to play the role of God.

Proverbs 3:5&6 - Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths smooth.

We learn from the Jeremiah 17 scripture that the one who trusts in the Lord is like a strong tree rooted by the waters. In the extreme heat, the tree still thrives. In drought, the tree is still fruitful. That is us! When we have stilled and quieted our souls the enemy can throw anything at us but we will still thrive…we will still be fruitful!

We still and quiet our soul by asking the One who is the Overseer of our soul to do this work in us. We still and quiet our soul by giving up the need to play the role of God and to be content, instead, to depend on and trust in Him.