Be Still...and KNOW

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

NIV 84

Ever feel like a certain verse is following you everywhere? In our current Bible study, Cultivating a Heart of Prayer by Wendy Blight, this was one of the verses we reflected on. For the last four years, this is a verse that my mom quotes to me...OFTEN. Anytime I worry, she speaks it. Anytime I get upset, she speaks it. 

Four years ago she bought me a plaque for my wall with this verse on it. Fast forward to a move, and it didn't get to go with us. I forgot it. So, when she came to stay with us for a couple months, guess what? She bought me a magnet with this verse on it. I have two little girls, currently 4 and 6 years old. Anything on the refrigerator is free game. They broke the magnet. I was devastated. 

My OBS sister quotes this verse to me as well. Imagine my surprise when I found this GIANT picture, (see above), on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I snapped a picture and sent it to my friend. She was hopeful I was going to buy it. I did. Small plaque to small magnet to GIANT picture. Was Someone trying to get a message across to me?

We reflected some upon Mary and Martha, see Luke 10:38-42, both in this study and in our previous Online Bible study. The message was loud and clear THEN...what could I learn from it now? I thought I took some time off to be a Mary, what was I missing? I even used this example in the last teaching I did for the OBS. What am I not understanding? Why is this Psalm following me everywhere?

So, I pray and I ponder. Yes, Martha is a busy bee. Sometimes I think she gets more grief from us than Jesus gave her. I can hear the kindness in His voice as He points out her mistake. He empathizes with her. He KNOWS she is worried and troubled, and in His grace, He points out WHY she is so worried and troubled. You see, to me, she only wanted to serve her Savior--to the best of her ability. She wanted everything right for Him. She wanted the best of everything for Him. To her, Mary should have been up serving Him too, not leaving all of the work to her. In all of His compassion, He reminds her that Mary CHOSE what was NEEDED. 

As I reflected on this, another verse came to mind, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 NKJV)

Mary CHOSE the better part by allowing Jesus to SERVE her. To minister to her. To speak words of truth into her. He knew that His life would be given for the sins of the world and He wanted to spend time speaking truth into and serving others. Just like in the story of the feet washing in John 13:1-15, Jesus told them in verse 15 that He had given them an example to follow. But notice what happened first. The disciples were SERVED by Jesus, before they were given instructions to SERVE. 

There is a time for serving, and there is a time for sitting. However, can we also not worry about the "preparations" before sitting? Martha was worried and troubled about much preparing and serving...so much so that she didn't sit at His feet. How many times I have had the intention to sit before my Lord, but got busy with much preparation--routines, checklists, get out all my Bible study tools, read this devotional....oh wait! I didn't start with prayer! I read the wrong day in the devotional! I'm behind in the study. But, I better do it quietly lest I wake the children up. By the time I am finished preparing, inevitably one of the children DO wake-up. The whole "sitting" thing? Gone. Lost in a moment of worry and trouble over how it should look. This was a whole new revelation for my life, packed into two seemingly unrelated verses. One in the Old Testament, and one in the New. 

Be still (Literally, in the Hebrew, slacken, abate, cease).....and know....(be aware of)