Yes…He Knows…I Just Need to Be Still!

Written by Mike Lawing

“It’s five minutes before seven o’clock,” I yelled at my oldest son. His usual (if we’re on routine) sit-down-for-breakfast time is twenty minutes before seven. Tick tock! Tick tock! (I noticed he wasn’t worried about the time as he meandered to the table.) I rushed back to finish ironing my slacks for the day. Again…tick tock! Tick tock! The dog still needed to be fed; my youngest son didn’t have his “breakfast-to-go” bag yet; had I brushed my teeth?….no!  The get-out-the-door-on-time schedule was shot. I was losing, rather…I lost…my cool. As a result, the morning, the day ahead, and all the items on my to-do list suddenly didn’t look very promising.

As I drove to work, my wife called me to see if I was OK. Her words calmed me down a bit and caused me to pause and think. In the grand scheme of life, with all the things that so many other people are dealing with, was this morning’s schedule debacle such a big deal? In the moment it seemed the worst of times, but really it wasn’t.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Why had I forgotten that so quickly?

Just the previous week I had been on vacation. Time away, with family and friends, had been so precious. We relaxed, laughed, enjoyed the time together and marveled at the beauty of God’s creation. That Psalm was so real in that setting. Now, because a morning schedule hadn’t gone as planned, I was off my rocker.

I began to think about the circumstances surrounding the recent deaths of two children in a nearby community. They perished when the clay wall of a hole being dug for a building collapsed onto them. Six-year-old Chloe and seven-year-old James were, without warning, taken from this earth and from the love of their parents and many others. They wouldn’t have mornings of frustration, because these children were late for breakfast or the times of constant reminders to brush teeth or do homework, or perhaps the fun times together at an amusement park, playing a card game, or visiting the ocean. I thought of other people I know, and those I’ve heard about, facing the trials of sickness, unemployment, children in extreme trouble, on and on, and again I has to ask myself…was a morning of simple chaos really so awful?

This morning’s madness happened for a reason and I…we…need to learn the lessons of it, a list of things we shouldn’t take for granted:

1) time is precious

2) enjoy the moments we have with our loved ones

3) be ready for God to take us home any moment, and

4) be still and know that He is God

(And, He is in control of each moment…those of peace, those of total madness, and all in between.)

As I was trying to get settled into work, my friend and co-worker, Louis Grant, dropped in with his expected hello and morning hug. (Something else I should be thankful for but often take for “Grant”ed.) I kind of hinted at my frustration of the morning, the life of hurry that I lead, and the challenges of the week after vacation. In his wisdom, Louis said that we should “take time to lie down or God will do it for us.” Another reminder that I should have I said it already… be still and know that He is God.

Tomorrow morning when the alarm clock goes off (it’s so loud!); I will arise and say, “This is the day the Lord has made!” (Psalm 118:24) and not shout “Breakfast is ready…haul it to the table!!!” I believe the day will start and go much better. Will you commit with me to greet our days with a goodly / Godly, attitude?