Devotions
Be Still!
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! – Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)
When Waiting Tests
Our Faith
Some years ago, my friend had a
procedure done while her husband was away, and I sat in the waiting room for
her. The time allocated for the procedure passed, but she still had not been
wheeled out. I waited for about another hour, and panic began to rise in me.
Overwhelmed by worry, I decided to pray. I went to a secluded corner and said,
“God, we prayed before, and You told us that all would be well. You cannot lie,
can You?” That moment of prayer brought peace over me, and I calmed down. However,
an hour later, with still no update from the operating room, I was back to
square one.
As I paced through the corridors, the
Holy Spirit spoke to me: “Haven’t you written about this already? Aren’t you
the one who said that when people lay their burdens at the Lord’s feet, they
should not return to pick them back up? You have prayed; God has answered you
by giving you peace. Why are you still carrying the burden?” It is not funny to
be confronted by the Spirit like that, but I was too worried even to feel
embarrassed. Fear had gripped my whole being, and I justified my behaviour by
saying it was too hard to stay still and wait in tranquility.
Faith Is a Daily
Choice Over Fear
Walking by faith must be very hard for
ordinary people. If it were not, worry, anxiety, and fear would not rule the
lives of so many. Yet, like everything else in life, walking by faith is a
choice, as difficult as it may be. And that choice must be made at every turn.
Every single day, we are challenged to choose: will it be faith, or will it be
fear? Because it is always one or the other.
Any act, attitude, or thought that is
not born out of faith is born out of fear, whether we are aware of it or not.
Fear is a tyrant, a despot, and a thief. It takes away peace, joy, and
confidence. When we become restless under the influence of fear, we lose focus,
make mistakes, and miss opportunities that can only be perceived by a peaceful
soul. God will only be exalted in our lives when we are still and act
confidently in our walk with Him.
Training the Soul to
Be Still
I often say that how and why God does
things can be very hard to understand. Because the flesh is used to logic, it
is not inclined to blindly trust God. But we have to train our spirits, souls,
and minds to trust Him and say, like David, “I do not concern myself with
great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted
myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am
content” (Psalm 131:1-2 NIV). David’s training method is simple: he does
not think too much, he does not try to figure everything out, and he simply
tells his soul, “Be quiet. God is still in control.”
For every believer, old or young,
educated or not, man or woman, David’s method is the only one that works. It
helps us deal with our inconsistent nature: one day we fully trust in God, and
the next we are besieged by doubt. Wisdom calls us to be careful, because that
inconsistency can happen to anyone. It happened to Elijah, even though he is a
man with a great testimony in the Bible. One day, he singlehandedly killed 850
false prophets; the next, he fled in terror from Jezebel.
Be Still: God Is
Working
As for me, I am not a role model for
“walking by faith,” so I will not tell anyone, “Follow my example,” as Paul
did. But I am learning, just like you, and I am sure the Lord is teaching me
how to lean on Him. Still, on this learning journey, there are times when I
look back and feel like pinching myself, asking why I could not trust God and
why it was so difficult to stay still.
The story above is one of those examples. The procedure was delayed because God was dealing with something that had not been anticipated but could have become a source of problems for my dear friend. He was giving the right answer to our prayers. So you too, be still, for He is the Lord, working to bring you the right answer. And when you find that you cannot keep your peace and sit still, remember to pinch yourself and ask your soul, “Is there any reason I could not trust Him?”
Posted : Oct 12, 2026