sacred strokes

I nearly hit a chipmunk with my car on the way to work the other day. Once I get to the suburbs, critters are seemingly everywhere. This particular chipmunk was crossing over from the other side of the street and then just sat in the middle of my lane. I was waiting for him to move, at any moment, but he never did. So I clenched my teeth, braced myself, and waited for that sickening crunch which I knew would take place as I hit him. But… it never happened. I looked back and there he was, just fine, sitting in that same spot before he decided to move at his own little rodent pace to the side he had been headed toward before my car showed up. He must have stayed low, and stayed still, as I drove over him, and it proved to be an effective way to survive.

If that chipmunk had turned back or tried to keep going across, he may very well have been hit. But by remaining in place, he was able to survive my approaching car/critter-crusher.

This little encounter made me reflect on how I behave when I am facing threats, fears, stresses and unknowns in life. When I sense tough times ahead, what do I typically do? Do I abandon the journey altogether, consider all lost, and revert back to where I had begun? Or do I sprint ahead toward what I have been seeking, without even a second thought? How do I handle adversity? And how should I?

I love the commonly referenced Psalm 46:10, which begins, “Be still and know that I am God.” It reminds us that we are not God, we are not in complete control, and some things (many more than we likely realize) are frankly not up to us at all, despite our efforts to convince ourselves that they are. What do we gain by seeking control and worrying? Sometimes we need to just let go and allow God to take over. Sometimes we need to just be still.

The Bible is packed full of verses telling us to be still and to trust the Lord. In Exodus 14, the Israelites reached the Red Sea and realized that Pharaoh and his troops were pursuing them. Their first reaction was fear and they even went so far as to say that they wished they had stayed in Egypt as slaves! Moses responds in verses 13-14, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” Moses knew that the Lord had brought them to this place where they were now against a fatal threat. The Lord had delivered them to that place, and He would faithfully deliver them again. And He did… by parting the Red Sea, of all things!

Zechariah 2:13 also reminds us to “Be still before the Lord, all mankind..” Isaiah 40 is amazingly reassuring of God’s power and wisdom and provision. It ends with verse 31 assuring us that “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” In 1 Samuel 12:16, Samuel told the people to “stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!” (I love that line by the way, even though Samuel said it in the midst of rebuking the people and advising them to obey the Lord.)

God calls us to be still. When hardships occur, I am convinced that He has not let go of our hands, but rather holds them all the tighter. Sometimes, we want to throw in the towel and at others, we feel the pressure to immediately push on full steam ahead because fear gets the better of us. I think the best thing to do is to pause. Pause and pray and be still for a moment. Our initial reaction to something is not always the wisest decision, not always the way God would want us to respond. When we pause and pray, we are accepting the gravity of the situation, we are acknowledging our shortcomings, we are building our dependence and trust in the Lord, we are affirming our need for His guidance. Even if it doesn’t necessarily seem to change the situation, it will change us. It will help us to make wiser and godlier decisions.

In Psalm 17:8, David asks God to keep him as the apple of His eye. It is generally understood that the Lord cared especially much for David. I have often wondered why that was. Was it more to do with David or more to do with God? One idea that I have is that perhaps it is partly because of David’s total vulnerability and dependence on the Lord. He gets raw with Him and he gets deep. Don’t we especially love those who are that way with us? We feel closer to them when they trust us fully and bare it all. David wasn’t perfect, and he did act at times without pausing to consider what the Lord would desire. But he also gave us many great examples of depending and calling on the Lord, especially in times of trouble. He gave us excellent examples of being completely honest and completely real with our Best Friend, our Creator, our Protector, our King, our Lord.

Psalm 37:7 reads “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalm 46:1 reminds us that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Again, in Psalm 62:5-6, David says, “My soul, wait patiently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” David knew that God alone was his rock, his security. True and eternal safety was not offered through his possessions, or other people, or even himself. We would be wise to realize this truth as well.

On a final note, I don’t think there is a specific amount of time to wait when we pause, pray and wait for a moment as we experience hardship. A moment may be mere seconds or it may be years on end. I also do not think waiting means inaction. It does not mean sitting around and waiting for God to plop everything into our laps and solve all our problems, just like we wanted. Though He may do that at times, we are not called to sit around and be lazy disciples. We are called to follow, to pursue His will and His purposes for our lives. He may not demand too much waiting from some of us; and of others, He may require much patience to work all things for our good. What makes all the difference is that moment of turning the situation over to the Lord. Of being still, of being open and aware of what He may be asking of you.

If you are facing a tough situation, an upcoming hardship or “trial,” take a moment to stop thinking about the options, the pros/cons, the resulting consequences. Stop being afraid for just one minute. Turn it over to the Lord and pray for wisdom. Pray for patience and an ever-growing trust in Him. We aren’t ever guaranteed specific results, or even pretty results, but we are guaranteed that He will be faithful to deliver us.

Whether it’s a street or the Red Sea, the Lord can get us safely across. -HLC