Introducing Key Notes! Monthly messages of encouragement and reflection from Pastor Brad.
Yesterday was my birthday. My forty-third revolution around the sun. I spent a lot of time, as you do, thinking about the past forty-three years.
I was born into a world without personal, home computers. It was at least ten years before my family got one. A Compaq Presario 386 with America Online dial-up internet. Now, not only do I have a personal computer 1,000x more powerful and capable than that in my pocket, the science fiction mainstay Artificial Intelligence has become reality. Computers can think. It took 10,000 to move from an agricultural society to an industrial one. Now, in a mere 43 years, exactly one Brad Bryan’s worth, we’ve surpassed the technological age and are moving into something. That pace, the speed of change, is incredible.
It’s no wonder Psalm 46:10 invites us to “Be still and know that I am God.”
In this instance, “be still,” is not a call to inaction, exactly. It’s more like the abatement of panic. Like when you get a little in over your head in a pool or lake or ocean, and a lifeguard comes to get you, the first thing they’re going to tell you is, “Stop struggling.” Or if the dog barks too much at the doorbell. If you just shout the dog’s name, the dog thinks you’re barking with them! But, if they know the command, “It’s OK,” or, “Quiet,” they know there’s no danger.
The simple pace of life right now can make us feel frantic, panicked, scattered, so we run in circles trying to put out all the fires at once, keep all the plates spinning, solve all the problems all the time for everyone. The most efficient way to get nothing done is to try to do everything.
So, be still. Take a deep breath, a step back. See the whole picture and then break it up into smaller things. Slow, careful, and methodical is stronger, and faster, than frenetic, unfocused, and random.
And, the best of all is, God is God and we are not.
Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be.
Christ-like and grace-filled, Keystone!
Brad