Have you ever felt like nothing is going right in your life?
Does it sometimes seem as if everyone else is winning in life and you’re still stuck spinning your wheels trying to figure out how you’re going to make ends meet? Whether you should start a new career or try something different?
Well, you’re not alone. Everyone and I do mean everyone faces various problems at some point in their life. And it is during these times in which we often begin to question where we are in life, who we are, why we’re here, and what’s taking God so long to move and make positive things happen for us.
Truth be told, I too, at one point, was having one of those moments. Yes, even a minister of the gospel sometimes needs encouragement. But instead of having a pity party, I did what I normally do when I need direction: I opened my Bible.
In doing so, I was encouraged, and today I would like to share that word of encouragement with you (hopefully it will encourage you too). That word of encouragement comes from Psalm 46:10. It says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
I remember some 30 years ago (I was about 8 to 10 years old at the time), myself, my two brothers, and my father was working on our farm in Marshall County, Mississippi one Saturday morning, something we did every Saturday. We raised cattle and a few horses and to keep them safe from wandering off, we had to build a fence to keep them within the bounds of our farm.
My father always taught us that if we ever wanted to rub the cows or horses that we needed to let the livestock know that we were there by speaking to them. He said the worst thing you could ever do is walk behind a cow or horse without saying something.
Well, on this particular Saturday, I was exhausted from working on the fence all day, so I kind of wandered around, not paying attention to my surroundings, and – BOOM! Out of nowhere, one of our horses kicked me smack in my mouth.
Yes! I walked right behind the horse without saying anything. It felt like that horse kicked me some 300 feet. It was the worst, most intense pain I had ever felt in my life.
As I laid there in the grass, bleeding from my mouth, my father came over and hugged me; held me in his arms and reassured me that everything would be ok. A short time afterward, I really did feel like everything would be ok.
But just like it was when that horse kicked me in my mouth out of nowhere, sometimes life will give us an unexpected kick in the mouth or punch in the face, leaving us down and out, wondering what moves we should make or how to pick ourselves back up again. It is in these times that you can be assured that God sees you. He hears your cry. God loves you and He wants what’s best for you. But please know that sometimes all God wants you to do is “Be Still” and know that He is God!
Here’s what I mean:
That word “still” in Psalm 46:10, in its original Hebrew language (in this particular context) means to let go or to release.
What this verse is trying to teach us is that sometimes when life knocks you down, and problem after problem shows up, all you have to do is “let go” or just “release” it all to Him. And once you do this and let God be God, you’ll receive His peace that surpasses all understanding. He’ll work it all out for you, and He’ll reassure you that everything will be ok, the same way that my father reassured me on that Saturday some 30 years ago.