A Return to the Still Waters

Hi, my name is Rick Bloodworth. This is the Common Sense Christian channel. And today we want to talk about being still. Well, we've all seen it, haven't we? Well, there'll be a young mother with a baby and the baby is just falling apart. And then that mama will pick up that baby and just start patting it and soothing it and saying, be still. It's all right. And nearly every time that baby will be still. Well, this is one of the things I believe that we all need in our lives is that moment of comfort from time to time where we allow God to just take over. Just like a mama takes over a baby's life and, and lets it know that, that it's taken care of, that it's in the warm embrace of its mother, and it just needs to be still. There's a comfort to that, and, and we need that with God. The 23rd Psalm is probably the most popular psalm in the entire Bible, and I believe it's for the specific reason of verse 2. You remember the 23rd Psalm. It begins in verse 1 with, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And then the next verse it says, He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters. It's those still waters, I think, that we all find so refreshing and so appealing, and especially in the world that we live in today. You just think about it. We, we are continually bombarded with information. We're continually looking at something. We've got a computer on or a television on or a radio on, or more likely than anything else, our cell phone on. And people have become so addicted to these items that, that they can't do without them. Researchers have said that, that the addiction that people have to cell phones right now or that some people do is similar to the addictions that some people have with hard drugs. They, they can't do without having it, making sure it's in hand. And if it's not in hand, then they start to panic and they start to look for it. As if a piece of them is missing. How did we ever get to the point in our lives where we become so reliant on technology that we can't do without it? And it's this technology, I believe that keeps us so roiled up all the time. Even when we're not looking at things that are stressful in and of themselves, we're, we're doing something that continually keeps us. from relaxing. Even the very things that we think will help us to relax very often don't. And there comes a point in our daily lives that we just need to be still. We need to turn everything off and we just need to sit down calmly. And, and think about what we're here for. Think about God and, and think about Christ. And to turn our lives over to them, to where we can take advantage of the comfort that only they can provide. You remember. The passage in the New Testament where the disciples are on the lake and there's a storm on the lake and Jesus is with them in a large boat. And when that storm comes up, well, the disciples are afraid for their lives. And that's interesting because there's at least four of those disciples on the boat who are professional fishermen. And so this must have been quite a storm. And yet here Jesus is asleep. And so they go and they wake Jesus up and they say, master, don't you care if we perish? And you remember what Jesus did? He got up. I'm sure it was in a very calm manner. And he commanded the waves, peace, be still. And the lake became calm. And the men who were used to the lake, and even those that may not have been used to the lake, were just so much in awe that they became afraid. Who has that kind of power to calm a storm? Well, Jesus does. And, and it was this very characteristic of, of Christ, I believe, that caused them to believe that He truly was the Son of God. No one could do what He had done. No one could teach in the way He taught. No one cared in the way that Jesus cared. And while we cannot be physically in His presence right now, we can spiritually be in His presence at any moment of any day. And we can take advantage of the one who can look at the storm and calm it simply by saying, peace, be still. Sometimes we are the storm, aren't we? Sometimes we just get so out of control. We're like that little baby that, that gets so frantic that, that it just loses complete control and it starts screaming and it almost until the point where it's turning blue. And we get that way sometimes. So much stress in our lives. It's no wonder that people are snapping right and left and attacking other people, either verbally or physically. They've just got too much stress. They need to go to the one who can calm that stress. We need to go to the one who can look at the storm and say, peace, be still. The question is, will we do it? We know that there are times in our life where, where we hunger for that. Have you ever seen somebody maybe, maybe your mother used to knit. That seems to be a lost art, doesn't it? Or your grandmother and, and they could just sit there so calmly and be working on their sewing or their knitting. And, and it just seemed like they were unflappable. That nothing could disturb them. And no matter what was going on around them, they could just kinda, kinda go through it, and take it in stride. I don't know why people don't knit anymore, or sew anymore. It's a very relaxing thing, or it certainly seemed to be, didn't it? You ever wonder why men like to hunt and fish, and some women like to hunt and fish? I think a big part of it is because of the quiet that you have when you're out. Now, I realize when you fire that gun, you lose the peace at least for a moment or two, but there's just something about standing on, on a the bank of a river and, and throwing, casting out a line into the water. And then reeling it in and, and just, you, you've got your focus on nature. You've got your focus on the task at hand. You're not thinking about the problems you've got at work or the, or, or the, the difficulties that you may have in your personal life. You're just focused on that. And it's the same thing with the hunt, when someone's out stalking game. And whether they catch it or not, whether they are able to get their trophy or not, or whether they're able to bring meat back to the freezer or not, sometimes it doesn't matter. Sometimes it is just the act of the hunt. The quiet stalking and the concentration on the task at hand. That really settles you. There are things in life that we do from time to time, perhaps not as much as we used to, but that we really, we long for. I hadn't, I hadn't fished probably in 30 years, but I can remember as a young man, and I'd get so busy at work and when I was off work, they would often find me at home and call me and call me back into work, and, and finally I just would get to the point sometimes where I'd just grab my fishing pole and my tackle box and my dog, and I'd just drive out to a place in Wyoming where I wouldn't see anybody maybe for two or three days if I didn't want to. And I can remember just finding a quiet bend in the river and casting a line out there and, and just being still. There's something to that, isn't there? Do you remember after God created the heavens and the earth what he did on the seventh day? We're told he rested. And I doubt very seriously if the creator of the universe was tired, but he did cease to exist. from his labors. And he made that day the Sabbath holy. It was something that they celebrated both during the patriarchal times before the law of Moses came. And during the times of the law of Moses, they were commanded to remember the Sabbath day and, and keep it holy. And one of the really big parts of that Sabbath day was no work. You just, you took a day and, and you decompressed. It wasn't a punishment. Some people think that that a day of rest is punishment, but it wasn't. It was given for the people. They had busy lives, very, very physical lives, very hectic lives, stressful lives, and they needed a Sabbath. rest. In the New Testament, we're to remember the first day of the week. We're to make sure that we gather together. We're to worship with one another and to, to break bread. We're to take the communion and to remember the body that Jesus gave for us and the blood that he shed for us. And while we're not commanded to, to take this first day of the week, like the Israelites were to take the Sabbath day where we can't do any work, it sure is nice to have a day. of rest, isn't it? And many people take the first day of the week as a day of rest, and they benefit from that. We need to be still, don't we, from time to time. It's a lost art, I, I, I realize, but for those who have mastered it, for those who can just take a break in their day, And be quiet for a few minutes to enjoy some prayer, to enjoy some reflection on what they're there for, to enjoy some of the scriptures from, from the word of God, to just have quiet time renews us and heals us. Anyone who's ever had small children recognizes the fact that sometimes you just need to stop them from their play and make them go in and be still for a while. Whether they're coloring in their coloring book or they're looking at their storybooks or, or taking a nap, whatever it is, they need that for healing, but we lose that as adults. We need to get back to that, I'm convinced. In Psalms 46 verse 10, it says, Be still and know that I am God. This is not only a command, it's a very great gift. And when we settle down from the turmoil in our lives and remember that God is in charge and, and we're still before him, it has a way of refreshing us in, in ways that nothing else can. It involves trust, it involves reliance on God, and it results in things like peace and quietness. Be still and know that I am God. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. Do you need that time to be led by the still waters? I think we all do. You can do it on a daily basis if you decide to do it. And the benefits that you'll reap from just slowing down for a few minutes each day, I believe are incalculable. They will make you a better man. They'll make you a better woman, a better husband, a better wife, and make you a better servant of God. And it all starts with just being still. Well, that's a lesson for today, a short one, but I hope something that will give you something to think about that will really help your life and enhance the blessings of your life that God has so richly given you. But until next time, I pray that God will richly bless you as you seek to serve him to the very best of your ability. May God bless you.