Be Still And Know That He Is God

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

— Psalm 46:10

I remember reading this verse as a child. I remember being told that these were God’s words, His own voice speaking to us through the Bible, and that I could find comfort in Him and be unafraid.

As a little kid, I didn’t understand. I couldn’t comprehend a force bigger than myself, than my parents, than cars speeding by on the street or the airplanes in the sky. And to put my faith in something that I couldn’t see, couldn’t touch, and couldn’t have tangibly in front of me seemed silly.

Sometimes I still feel that way, to be honest.

There are days when I doubt. I doubt because I’m human. I doubt because I fear for the lives of the people around me. I doubt because I see terrible things happening in the world and I wish I could make sense of them. I doubt because I have questions with no answers and because people I care about ask my why my God doesn’t seem to notice their pain and all I have to tell them is that He does, He cares so much but He wants us to choose Him and to turn to Him instead of our earthly, sinful devices.

And sometimes I feel like I’m shouting into this open void with no response.

But then I remember this verse. “Be still and know that I am God.”

And I remember thousands of other verses that promise God’s love. I remember so many moments in my life where I felt low and leaned on my faith to bring me through. I remember the times I prayed and felt His presence. I remember that He has taken things from me, but He has given me so much. I remember that in His love, I am saved. I remember I am never alone.

And I’ll never be alone because He is with me. Because He is my God.

And then I start to think about the world and how incredibly big it is. I think about humans, and how we are all so different and unique. I think about the stars and the galaxies and all the thousands and millions and trillions of tiny cells that make up every single thing I see and I wonder how I could ever doubt that there was a God when there are so many damn miracles all around me.

And then I quiet my mind and still my pounding heart. I close my eyes and I ground myself. I pray, I remember, I talk to God and tell Him the worries pressing on my soul.

And then I trust. Because that’s what faith is, trust. In things seen and unseen, in forces greater than myself, in a God that I know will never forsake me.

I trust because that’s what being a Christian is. It’s putting my sinful, human heart in His hands and asking Him to take it, to mold it into what He wants for my life. It’s believing that He is here and will always be here. It’s trusting that He is God, and will always be God, even in the pain and struggle and heartbreak and turmoil spinning around this earth.

Be still and know that I am God, He says, and I will.
I will have faith in what I know—He loves us. And He is here.