January beckons a stillness, a calm that invites us to contemplate the year ahead. The silence of a winter snowfall. The world sleeps dreaming and contemplating the coming spring. Plans are made, dreams are dreamt, ideas are given thought. What new adventures take route in the stillness? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

January is traditionally a quiet month. It comes in at the end of the holiday celebrations, begins with the New Years celebration and then settles in for a long winter’s nap. The short days and cold temperatures give rise to cozy rest, fluffy blankets and warm fires. No one would be thought odd for hibernating for a few weeks.

Every day it seems the world we live in has more and more things happening that consume our attention. Night and day our minds don’t seem to stop. It is becoming harder and harder to unplug, slow down and be still. The world says you are falling behind, keep up!

There comes a time when we have to make a choice. I am not as young as I used to be and my body has helped me make some choices I don’t think my mind was on board with making. I have seen the ill effects when we don’t take time to be still. I know people who didn’t take a break to slow down that were forced, by medical issues, to slow down. We can literally work ourselves to death.

Psalm 46:10a; NLT; Be still, and know that I am God.

As we face the challenges of keeping pace they wear on us. I wonder if we can stop and be still. God’s Word helps us understand that we all were created with the internal need to be still at times. In creation God created all things in six days and then rested on the seventh. That is an indication that if rest isn’t a part of the life we live there will come a time when we won’t have a choice. When that time comes it will not be on our terms, it will be with consequences we would not choose.

I thought we might dwell here for a few weeks as we have been known to do in this blog; our Winter Bible Study. Let’s see if we can take some time and digest this statement from God’s Word. I believe there are three main topics of discussion, Be still, know, and I am God.

So, let’s cover them with a wide brush before we dig in.

Be still. Think about that, stillness, what does that mean. Some of us are good at it, I know some hunters and fishers out there that can sit still and patiently wait. I’m not that guy. I’ve tried but I confess, I am not good at sitting still, there is something in me that always seems to be moving. That only means that this is something I need to work on. I need to practice being still.

What does it mean to be still? Let’s see, first it means to stop, stop what? Stop talking, commenting, complaining, questioning, moaning, arguing, rationalizing, justifying, etc. Switch off the phone, television, tablet, game console, etc. It means, stop all the things we use to grab our attention. That can be the biggest challenge for most of us.

If I stop all that, what should I be doing? Listening, to God, to others, to the sound of silence. Listening is something we need to practice. If we are honest with ourselves we usually listen in order to tell others what we know. We only listen long enough to think we know what someone is saying and then we wait for a breath to stick our two cents in. Listening takes practice.

Know, another challenging task. What do we know, what do we understand, what have we experienced in life? In this passage it is not about any of that, it is about what we know about God. That is something we cannot pursue enough. Paul wrote;

Philippians 3:8a; NLT; Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

When we get there, we will explore all that Paul set aside to know Christ. You might be surprised at the social standing that Paul had and he considered it garbage compared to knowing Jesus.

The third topic we’ll cover is I am God. Although we could study that topic forever and still not exhaust the attributes of God, we will attempt to cover some of them to expand our understanding. Here are a few; Almighty, All powerful, All knowing, Creator, King, Father, Shepard, Hope, Salvation, Help, and the list goes on. As we are reminded by Christ;

John 14:6; NLT; Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

There are many things we don’t know in life. We figure some things out through trial and error, but we are still limited. God is not, He knows all and possesses all power and authority. He holds our lives in His hands. I think it would be good to know Him better.

Look forward with me to sitting still, listening to what the Word says about the God who created us. I hope you will join with me and discover how beneficial it can be to sit still and know God.

Blessings,

Pastor Don