Rest and Know

“Rest and know that I am God,” He speaks softly to my whirling mind. (Psalm 46:10). “Be still and at peace knowing that you are held completely safe in my hand.” 

If I will be still, and dwell upon Him instead of my problem or worry, I will be filled with His faithful presence instead of consumed with fear or with something I cannot handle (Isaiah 26:3). In my worrisome state, I am constantly filled with a fear that causes one of two things. That fear will either drive me to self-destructing despair where I retreat from life, or it will cause me to try to change circumstances or myself without letting God direct me or heal me. I try to fix circumstances within my own strength, and heal myself without completely surrendering to Him. And that never works. The peace that I so long for is out of my grasp because I try to make happen what I perceive is needed.

“My hand is not shortened that it cannot save” He reminds me again (Isaiah 59:1). My attempts to save myself are useless. In fact, they get in the way of His ability to help me. Without surrender to His saving hand, I will sink into the depths of my own despair. My rescuer is with me so why do I fight His attempts to pull me safely to shore? What I perceive to be my safety has become my own destruction. This boat of my own making is sinking, and I will sink with it if I do not grasp His hand and allow Him to pull me out of it. 

Often the struggles of life overwhelm my heart and I feel like the psalmist who wrote "all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” (Psalm 42:7). But the same psalmist also wrote, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."(Psalm 40:2). Consider the wonder of that truth! He is my safety for He rescues me from the pit. He is my security because He sets my feet upon His rock‒solid foundation. He is my guide in all things because He directs the way that I go. 

This is a beautiful picture of what He wishes to do in me—save me from that which destroys my heart—give me security to trust in His faithfulness. Allowing Him to guide me is the proof that I have grown and trusted in Him. I will allow Him to direct my steps. I will not question. I will trust, and give all my worries and fears to Him. I will be still and rest in Him‒knowing that He alone is my deliverer and my peace (Philippians 4:6-7).