The Hard Work

Psalm 46:10 'He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." NIV

My two miniature horses, Frank and Mama are as different as light and dark and yet they are mother and son. Frank is friendly, good tempered and patient, while Mama is standoffish, temperamental and impatient. I figure Frank must have gotten his good genes from his father.

Due to these differences Frank is always so much more comfortable and well groomed compared to Mama. Why? Because Frank is willing to stand still to be brushed and combed whereas Mama balks at the idea and if she does stand still it is never for long enough to complete the hard work to be done.

Mama however is not the only one who has problems standing still which then leads to the consequences she must bear due to her impatience. Often when God is trying to work in my life I too can be temperamental about it, balk at the idea and refuse to be still and know. And how about you what is your experience in this matter of being still and knowing? Are you patient like Frank allowing God to do the hard work which is necessary in your life or impatient and missing out like Mama?

Throughout the Bible we can find many, many stories where people have had to be still and know; for God to act on their behalf, to do what He had promised them or to fulfill their prayers.

Their various stories reveal that sometimes they refused to be still and rushed about making and implementing their own plans much to their own grief. While other times they were wise and calmly took the time to wait and know, and in God's time they received the full blessing of His work in their lives minus any regrets. He was exalted is their lives, in their nations and still is today through His word.

So today, we each have a choice in regards to allowing whatever hard work God may want to be about in our lives to transform us more and more into His image: to be still and know or to be impatient and miss out.

Which will you choose?

Prayer: Father God, grant Your people hearts and wills to be still and know. Let us not be impatient for You to reveal Yourself in our own personal lives or the life of this world. Let us practice the art of being still through prayer and faith and hope that indeed all that You have promised will come about in Your way and Your time, just as it always has since time began. In Christ's name we ask. Amen.

Lynne Phipps Atlin, B.C.