Be Still 

   “Pause a while and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted over the earth!” (Psalm 46: 10) 

   I keep coming back to this verse quite often which is why I’ve studied it in various translations.  Sometimes the wording used gives a different, previously unthought of insight into the scripture.  I believe God is opening my mind and heart to Him at these times, to help me better know and understand Him.

   The version quoted above is from the Jerusalem Bible.  I prefer it to the wording used in the New American Bible.  To pause is, to me, a bit different than being still.  I can be still while remaining in turmoil within.  To pause implies withdrawing from all things to contemplate God and His will.  It means going to my private place and quieting not only external noises but the distractions and noises that are nearly always there within.  I can’t be totally with God if my mind and heart is full of the things of this life.

   I need the quiet times, the pauses in my life.  They allow me to refocus on God, placing all my trust in Him.  It does no good to question the reasons or why things happened as they did, it matters only to trust that all things are in His hands.  Even when the hurt is most intense He is there when I reach out to Him.  By myself the woes of the world can be overwhelming, but our Lord has conquered the world and with Him all things are possible.