I can remember as a young boy being in church doing what young boys do (mostly squirming and fidgeting) and my mother telling me “BE STILL” with that stern look that only a mother can give.  I knew she meant business and if I didn’t do as she instructed it would mean getting one of those painful pinches on the arm that certainly got your attention.  I think God is desperately telling men to “BE STILL!”  We are allowing so many things to distract us away from our relationship with Him despite His efforts to get our attention …God has His own ways of giving us a pinch to get our attention.  The pace of our lives has gotten such that we are so busy we lose site of the most important thing which is to keep our eyes upon Jesus.

     Some men are afraid of being still because it makes them keenly aware of their short comings and their fears.  Society tells us that men are to be strong and we are never to admit our weaknesses or acknowledge fear yet God tells us that it is in those moments of weakness that He becomes strong on our behalf.  Men avoid these moments because we are afraid that God will ask us to do something for Him.  Being “busy” is our way of excusing our failure to yield to God and give Him the time He desires with us.  Yet there is something powerful that happens when we come to the realization that when we are still, God can tell us the things He has to say to us.  He can renew and re-energize us to do His will.  God never asks us to do anything that He does not equip us to do.

     An important reason for us to “BE STILL” is so we can confess our sins and get honest with our Heavenly Father.  David gives us a good example when he said “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”[1]  God’s desire is for us to have a right relationship with Him (this is what makes us righteous) and the only way that can happen is when we are totally honest and open with Him.  The old saying “confession is good for the soul” is absolutely true.  It is through our confession that we grow to rely on our Lord and Savior for all of our needs and keeps our relationship with Him healthy.  “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.”[2]  We need to “BE STILL” to feel God’s unfailing love.

     Another key reason we need to “BE STILL” is to put ourselves in a place where we can receive what God wants to say to us.  God tells us “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.  Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”[3]  God doesn’t need a stable full of mules that He must control with a bit and bridle!  He wants men who are willing to come to Him voluntarily, of their own accord.  He wants men to get real with Him and then get real with the world they live in to share His saving grace.  He is willing to be our GPS in life and not only will He guide and direct us, He will watch over us in the process.

     Christian men are not exempt from getting caught up in the hurry and scurry lifestyle so prevalent in our world today.  With so many upheavals at Satan’s disposal to distract us (the economy, struggles in government, war, etc.) we would do well to remember Psalms 46:1 which says “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  To take refuge in God and to gain strength from Him requires that we “BE STILL.”  Only trust can increase our faith and only faith will teach men to “BE STILL” and learn to rely completely and wholly on God.  The 3^rd verse of the wonderful hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”[4] says “His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell! And then the chorus “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”  Oh that God’s men would look full in His wonderful face so that we are not distracted by the things of this world!  BE STILL!