Be Still Devotional: Day 32

Devotion for Tuesday March 25
Dr. Mark Edworthy | Missouri City Campus Pastor & CityRise Network Director

Scripture
Psalm 46:10
Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Devotional Thought
On November 10, 1999, my wife and I followed directions from Warsaw, Poland (where we lived) to the nearby town of Otwock. The last mile was through a forest, and the dirt road ended at a large, rectangular building: an orphanage. As we walked toward the main entrance, we saw a swimming pool, dilapidated and cracked from decades of neglect, with a foot of black water inside. We soon met eight-year-old twins— a brother and sister—who would return home with us that afternoon and officially join our family the following May.

These siblings had been removed from their abusive parents at age three and were taken in by a family at seven, but they were soon returned to the orphanage. The girl was mentally challenged, and the boy was behaviorally challenged. While the girl bonded quickly with our family, the anger that her brother had stored for years continued to manifest itself at home and school. Fights were common; distrust was apparent. It took years before he finally confided in me, culminating in this question: “You will never give me back, will you?” I took him in my arms, and he wept for ten minutes. Ten years of tears had built up, and he could finally be still.

As the Psalmist wrote, “Be still” or more literally, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Our son finally ceased striving and heard the voice of God for himself (later following God as a missionary). To reverse the old adage: Don’t just do something, stand there! If we focus on our pain, we often strive for diversion or activity to mask the discomfort. If we instead choose stillness, we might hear the whisper from our God who will be exalted among the nations and in the earth.

Reflection Questions

• Do you sometimes tackle a task instead of quietly waiting for the Lord to speak?
• Does stillness feel like idleness instead of a precious time to meditate and listen?

Suggested prayer/action step
Father, please forgive me when I bring you trinkets instead of time and when I prioritize work over worship. Please hold me close and help me clearly hear your whisper and joyfully walk the path You have set before me. In Jesus’s name, amen.