RAILING OR RECEIVING
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself really railing agains everything. Things are NOT going my way, (or in ANY way that seems even remotely okay to me,) and of course, I turn to God and, (like Job,) start demanding an explanation.
Nothing makes sense.
Or, just when I think I’m starting to get a handle on things, there’s a new senseless wrench thrown into the works and I’m back to railing against it all again. GRRRRR
Then I hear God whisper to me, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
This is really, REALLY hard for me. Not just the “being still” part, (which in some Bibles is translated, “stop fighting,” or “stop striving,”) but also the knowing He is God part. As much as I hate to admit it, I try to be God a LOT in my life.
I know what’s best.
For me AND for others.
I know how things SHOULD be.
I know how things should NOT be.
I know what needs to be done.
I have all the answers.
Uh huh.
*deep sigh*
When I finally quiet the GRRRR in my spirit and am still for a bit, I can start to sense God’s presence. As I feel Him wrap around me, I hear His gentle whisperreminding me that He’s not in the wind or the earthquake, or the fire… and He’s especially not in the wind, earthquake, and fire in my angry heart right now.
He is the still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:12)
And HE is God.
I have to sit and soak for a while in all that that means…
The obvious implication is that I am NOT God.
Of course, I KNOW I’m not God… but again, I oftentimes find myself acting like I am. Like I know what’s best for me and for others, I know how things SHOULD be, I know how things should NOT be… you get the picture.
Only after my heart is humbled by this and I stop railing, can I start receiving.
Just like with Job, God starts to remind me that HE is GOD. He is not A god. He is THE GOD… the creator of the universe. He’s bigger than ALL of this, and even though things may seem COMPLETELY out of control, they are NEVER out of HIS control. He is God. And if we arrogantly just rail against things not going the way WE think they should go, we can miss receiving the hidden blessing He may be trying to give us.
It makes me think of the Pharisees railing against Jesus. They had the LAW and they were SOOOO sure that following that law was the ONLY way to please God, (which is what they really wanted to do, and thought they were doing!) (John 16:2) that in their arrogant railing against Jesus they missed receiving the blessing He was offering to them.
Even Jesus’ disciples thought they knew how Jesus’ ministry should go, and several times He had to show them that HIS way was THE way, not theirs, (Matthew 19:14, John 13:3-17, Matthew 16:23-25, John 14:6,) up to and even after His death. (Acts 10:9-18)
The same holds true for us today.
His ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
They’re BETTER.
And He’s GOT this.
He’s not pacing in His throne room right now, wringing His hands trying to figure out what He’s going to do. He’s got it ALL planned out. He and His faithful followers WILL be victorious, (read Revelation!) and actually already are victorious. (John 16:33, Luke 24:2-7, Romans 8:31-37) Jesus told us that in this world we WOULD have trouble, but He HAS (past tense!) overcome the world!
He has GOOD plans for you, (Jeremiah 29:11) so be still and know that He is God. This means rest in Him, (cease striving and wrestling and railing,) and know (receive the peace that comes from KNOWING,) that He’s in control.
Less railing.
More receiving.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
SCRIPTURES
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)
1 Kings 19:12 ~ Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (KJV)
John 16:2 ~ They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. (NET)
Matthew 19:14 ~ But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (NLT)
John 13:3-17 ~ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. … When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (ESV)
Matthew 16:23-25 ~ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (NASB)
John 14:6 ~ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (NKJV)
Acts 10:9-18 ~ The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. (NLT)
Isaiah 55:8-9 ~ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (AMPC)
John 16:33 ~ These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (NASB)
Luke 24:2-7 ~ They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” (NIV)
Romans 8:31-37 ~ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Jeremiah 29:11 ~ For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (AMP)