Yesterday in our 2014 Lenten Devotional series entitled Be Still and Know that I AM God, we saw that Leah, Rachel’s sister, wanted a gold medal in the Most Competitive Fertile Woman in the World games.  Rachel wasn’t going to let her have it without a fight.

Where are you, Rachel?

I’m in depression, God. 

I’m jealous of my sister’s ability to have babies.  I’m competitive and coming up short.  I’m striving every way I can and still have no child to call my own.  I am barren and I’m brokenhearted about it.  I’m even blaming my husband.

Genesis 30: 1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”  2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

When we are competitive for the wrong reasons, we don’t rejoice with others and their successes.  We envy them and resent their joy.  We see only winners and losers.  No one wants to be the loser.  Being a loser is depressing.

Depression is a great killer of stillness.  It churns the mind. 

It’s a powerful force that refuses to be still. 

It can be centrifugal, forcing us into the outer world to deal with it in relation to others.  In a positive sense, it can become compassion for others who are suffering.  But more often, perhaps, negatively as striving, scheming, or spreading our woes to others.

• Weighing others down with our problems that we’d rather coddle than cure.
• Anger that we take out on those we love and those we don’t.
• Bitterness that turns relationships into dumping grounds and creates a graveyard of loneliness in a garden of friendship that used to sustain life and joy.

Depression can also be centripetal, spinning and spinning, forcing all our emotions inward into one consolidated lump buried deep in our core.  Depression sits there and weighs on us.  It ferments and grows, refusing to be comforted.  It becomes the friend we never wanted and the house guest that refuses to leave.

Where are you?  Are you like Rachel, trying and trying and spinning and spinning and getting nowhere?

Be Still. Are you spinning inward?  I need your decision to stop before I can change your direction.  I’m not a puppeteer and I love you too much to override your will. You must decide to stop and look to Me.

Be Still.  Are you spinning outward, but in a negative way?  Some things need more than human effort.  That’s why you particularly need My touch to show you how to live with joy even in difficult circumstances. 

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  When you are still in My presence, when you seek Me, the desires of your heart will be conformed to look more like mine.  Sometimes human desires and effort get in the way of what you really need.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I don’t ask you to approve of My plans for you.  But when you reach the other side, the place I alone can see at present, you will know that I AM God and will have done right by you all along, even if it’s not what you wanted right now because you couldn’t see the better things I had planned for all eternity.

Questions for reflection:

1. Everyone experiences depressing circumstances from time to time.  It’s part of living in a broken world.  What direction do you spin when depression hits?
2. Do you know someone who is depressed, perhaps like Rachel because of infertility, or perhaps feeling like there is no hope?  How might you help that person to have hope?
3. The desire for babies is strong among women and infertility is a sorrow of immense proportions.  What might be some ways for infertile women to spin their sorrow outward to helping others and having that nurturing relationship they desire?

As I’m writing, we just finished watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi and saw athletes representing nations and competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals.  Sometimes, there was good sportsmanship and it was congratulations all around for people doing their personal best.  Sometimes, like at the end of the men’s speed skating competition, there was a little attempt at grabbing at the person ahead to try to pull him back in order to gain position for oneself.  That’s considered unsportsmanlike.

Competitions can bring out the best and the worst in people.  When viewed as “a rising tide raises all ships” or each person inspiring another to his or her personal best, competition can be wonderful.  It’s the training that makes us all better.

But competition can be an enemy of stillness. 

It can turn into striving to be better than someone else.  Not just to do better and win, but we internalize it to being better.  By internalizing it—the competitive impulse for greater value and worth, the desire to gain position with God or with others, or the inner drive to beat someone arising from a selfish and jealous nature—all of these can drive a wedge between our hearts and stillness.

Such is the case with Leah.  She was given in marriage to Jacob when he had worked to secure her sister, Rachel.  As the older daughter, she was forced into a deception by her father Laban and from that point forward, she felt like the lesser wife of Jacob.  She felt unwanted.   Scripture says “Leah was not loved” and that “Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah.”

Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

It wasn’t Leah’s fault that she was given in marriage to Jacob in a deceitful way.  Her reaction to the situation, however, showed that her motivations arose out of a competitive and jealous spirit.

Where are you, Leah?  Only after her fourth son, Judah, did she stop having children.  Only then does Scripture say in Genesis 29:35 “She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘This time I will praise the LORD.’ So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.”  This time…I will praise the LORD.

Leah’s focus of the first 3 sons was human-centered, jealous, and competitive.  You can almost hear her taunting Rachel as a result of her fertility and Rachel’s infertility.  The fourth son finally prompted Leah to think about praising God.

Leah’s whole life was consumed with a competitive spirit and she missed out on the stillness of God so long as she competed for gold in the event called Old Testament Reproduction.

What about you?  Where are you?  What kind of competitive spirit do you have?

Be Still.  Take time to remember Who is the giver of all good things and how I desire to do good to all people.  Here’s what My Word says to you:  “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

Be Still. Don’t compare yourself to others.  I love them too.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I want you to take your eyes off of you and off of them.  Instead, look to Me to be your very best.  I AM the reward at the end of the race.

Questions for reflection:

1. What types of life events bring out your competitive spirit?
2. What kind of competitive spirit do you have: one that seeks to raise all ships or one that seeks to be the best?
3. How does this verse point to stillness?  Philippians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Maybe you’ve experienced the same thing I have: Wondering whether what you think you’re hearing from God is actually from God.  Abraham must have felt that way. 

You want me to do WHAT?

Where are you, Abraham?  Are you so in love with the promise and enthralled with the blessing that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to love the LORD your God? Let’s do a heart check.

Where are you?  Are you in danger of substituting the blessing for the Blesser?  Trading the Giver for the gift?  Trusting in the provision rather than the Provider?  Here’s a test so that you can see where you are.

I can’t even begin to imagine what must have been going through Abraham’s mind when he was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.  Somewhere along the way, did he wonder if he heard right?  Somewhere on the journey did he stop and think about God’s character and whether what God was asking him to do was consistent?  How do you trust in God when He’s asking “Where are you?”  And how do you continue trusting when you’re thinking, “OK, God, where are YOU?”

Don’t we often ask God where He is?  Or why didn’t He stop this or that from happening?

Where are you?  Are you standing in a place of trust or doubt?  Is your trust in something or someone God has given to you?  Are you holding so tight to a person, a ministry, a thing, or a dream that maybe it’s to the detriment of your relationship with God?

Be Still.  I’m just testing you so that you’ll know I AM still here with you.  You don’t need to ask where I AM.

Be Still.  I haven’t stepped off the throne or gone on a vacation.  I’m not asleep.  I’m very well aware of the whole thing, not just the parts you can see, but how all the parts fit together today, tomorrow, and the next.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I AM the God who provides, who gives, who blesses and who saves.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I want you to know Me.  Because when you truly know who I AM, you won’t ask where I AM.

Questions for reflection:

1. Scripture doesn’t tell us Abraham doubted at all.  In fact, it says, Genesis 22:8 “Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’”  How would you categorize that response?
2. Scripture also says, Hebrews 11:17 “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”  How can reasoning show faith?
3. Is your default position cynicism, skepticism, or doubt?  Is your default position the same with man as it is with God?  Bring your honest answer before the LORD and ask Him to help you to Be Still and Know that He is God.

Where are you? 

I’m in a place of lonely despair and I’m crying.

I’ve been kicked out of my home.  I’m feeling rejected and alone.

Countless Americans can relate to that every day. 

As I write, there are dozens of people I know who are facing this because of divorce, breakups, illness, abuse, etc.  They are almost always devastated, frequently scared, and painfully lonely.

That’s how Hagar was feeling after Abraham—with God’s permission—sent her away (Genesis 21:1-20).  How could God allow such a thing to happen?  God doesn’t need for me to defend Him, but sometimes God’s ways don’t make sense to us.

God has been known to remove what we’re relying upon, forcing us to stillness and dependence upon Him.  But it can get lonely. 

It may sound counterintuitive because it seems like it should be easier to be still when we’re alone, but being alone puts us on a battleground for confronting the enemy of loneliness.  Yes, there are fewer distractions when one is alone, but it’s also a vulnerable place.  Remember that the one thing God proclaimed as “not good” in Creation was Adam’s being alone. (Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”)

We were meant to be in relationship with others, in community.  Why?  Because we support one another and ultimately, being in relationship with others points us to the relationship we have with God.  When we are alone, the temptation is to focus on the loneliness instead of on the relationships we cannot see.  With God, are you ever truly alone?

Be Still.  Bring your fears to Me.

Be Still.  Rest in Me.  I will provide what you need.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I desire a relationship with you and for you never to feel alone.  I AM with you.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I have a plan and I have heard your cries.  I love you and will not leave you alone.  I will provide for you, yes, even in the wilderness.

Questions for reflection:

1. Read Genesis 21:1-20  What reasons might God have had for permitting Sarah to send Hagar away and telling Abraham to assent to it?
2. What relationships do you desire most?
3. What is your reaction to loneliness?  Be honest with yourself about any sins that have their roots in coping with loneliness.
4. What strategies can you take to respond to loneliness in God-fearing ways?

Do you ever feel like life has passed you by?  Where are you? At the winter of your life with more days behind you than ahead of you?  Or perhaps exhausted from the Christian journey and feeling completely spent?  Do you feel like you’re old and probably of no use anymore?

Sometimes, these feelings are from a lifetime of struggle, but at other times they can resemble an excuse.  I remember back when I was in a Garden Club, the older ladies encouraged the younger women to do all the work because they felt it was part of the club’s seasonal cycle.  The older ladies had paid their dues when they were younger and did all the work back then.  Now it was someone else’s turn.  The older ladies felt too old to be on the field, preferring to let the parade go on and just watch from the stands.

Abraham and Sarah might have felt that way.  Too old to have kids.  Their lifetime had been spent childless and they’d come to accept that the parade has passed them by.  So when God tells them their lives still have purpose, they were surprised. 

Feelings of uselessness and resignation are enemies of stillness.  Excuses are what we sometimes offer in order to not feel so bad about giving in to these enemies.  You can lay these feelings down at the Cross of the One who calls you every moment to a life of useful service and purpose.

Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring– not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed– the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead– since he was about a hundred years old– and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Are you persuaded in that way? 

Like Abraham, are you fully persuaded that God has the power to do His will? 

Be Still.  Listen in hope to hear what I want to do in your life.  I’m supplying your ongoing breath for a reason.

Be Still.  Purpose comes from Me and is not a function of your age or natural abilities.  Some things are done best in the stillness of the winter of your life.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I give life to the dead and call things that are not as though they are.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  Believe that I have the power to do anything I want in your life.  I’m looking for your continued willingness.

Questions for reflection:

1. How might getting older become an excuse we use to keep us from remaining active in Christian service?
2. When we feel like the parade has passed us by, what does that say about us and our view of God?
3. What are some things that older Christians can do that younger Christians with families and fulltime employment might find more difficult to do?
4. “Older Christians can find themselves demanding to be served by the church (with their favorite music and activities) because they feel like they’ve paid their dues all these years.  They use their money and time to lobby churches to satisfy their preferences at the expense of reaching younger people.”  Do you agree or disagree with this statement?  Why?  What does your answer possibly say about views of Christian service?

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)

Where are you, Abraham?  I am stepping out in faith, but I don’t know where You are taking me.

Have you ever felt like that?

Uncertainty and confusion are enemies of stillness.  We can have confidence in our past because we know how it all turns out.  The future frightens us because we don’t know it and can’t control it.

I can only imagine that Abraham must have wanted a little more regular communication from God.  Something like God’s voice ahead of him saying, “Walk here. Turn here. Stop here.”  Or like a map or a GPS giving indication of what’s ahead so you know when to turn or stop.

Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

God didn’t show Abraham what was ahead.  He just said, “Go.”

Faith isn’t built by having God show us what’s ahead. Faith is built by confidently pressing into the unknown, listening to the voice of God in each and every moment.  Believing God always takes place most profoundly in the present for the future.

Like a parent holding the hands of a baby who is learning to walk, God does not walk before us, leading the way.  He walks behind us while holding our hands to let us develop confidence in stepping out.

If uncertainty and confusion are enemies of stillness, we can discover both trust and order in a faith relationship, in the stillness and nearness of God who holds our hands.

Be Still.  Confidence is found in the One who loves you.

Be Still.  I know the future.  While I might let you fall from time to time, it’s not to harm you but to help you develop confidence in stepping out in faith. I will never let you down.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  The future belongs to Me.  I know the end of the story.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. The future may be unknown to you, but you can Know Me, the One who knows the future.

Questions for reflection:

1. How often do we fear what the future holds?  What does it say about our trust in God?
2. Why is the unknown more frightening than what we can reasonably predict?  How does control play into that?
3. Read Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”  How can this encourage us to step confidently into the future?

Where are you, people? Trying to build a legacy? Does that legacy include worship of God or are you too busy making a name…for yourselves?

Genesis 11:1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel–because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Progress has a way of interfering with stillness.

Remember when people told us that email was going to free up so much of our time? Kind of makes you want to go back in time and slap that person. Computers were going to make our lives simpler. In some ways, life seems easier but it’s often just quicker. Therefore, we cram more into less time and make a name for ourselves called “Productivity” or “Efficiency.” But when the crash happens, the virus comes, or the software doesn’t work right, it can get pretty stressful.

With smart phones, iPods, and laptops, it seems that technology and progress want to follow us into the most quiet and private places.  Into worship even. It breaks into the stillness with its beeps and buzzes and blings. Even on silent mode in church, it can be a visual distraction, taking you away from focus on God and into making a name for yourself.

Be Still. Put the phone away for a while. You’ll be glad you did.

Be Still. Open a paper copy of your Bible and pray as you meet with Me in the pages.

Be Still. Turn off the noise and be amazed at the feel of your beating heart or the sound of the breath of life in you.  I put it there.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. I’m not one of a million distractions and I certainly don’t want to feel like a smartphone is coming between us.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. I will do what I must to get your attention and to bring you to the humble place of stillness. Better, isn’t it, that you do it willingly rather than as a last resort?  The texts can wait.  The emails can wait.  I want to spend some time with you–in my Word, in prayer, and in song.

Questions for reflection:

1.  Where does reading Scripture fall in your priorities for the day?  Do you feel prepared to take on the day only if you read the news, Facebook status updates, and emails?  Or is reading God’s Word part of your preparation?
2. Do you view obstacles to achieving your goals of building a reputation and a name as being God’s wake-up call to a better life or as a problem to be overcome?
3. How do technology and progress impact your life?  Even good things can come between us and the peace God desires to give us in the stillness.

Noah (see Genesis 6:5-7:23) must have felt pretty awkward.  To have insider’s knowledge that he and his family were the only ones to be saved in the flood that was coming.  To be told to build an ark to survive the flood when nonstop rain wasn’t even on the long range forecast or in the Farmer’s Almanac.  People watching must have thought that he was an idiot.

Think about it, it’s not like the ark was built overnight and then boom: thunder, lightning and rain.  It took some time to build.  Day after day, he probably pressed on with his work knowing that he was going to be saved and any curiosity-seekers or scoffers were going to perish.  He didn’t build the ark in a vacuum and it’s not like he could hide it in his garage workshop.  There were people around and human nature being what it was (“only evil all the time”) one doesn’t stretch too far imagining that they saw Noah building away, and these gawkers thought things even if we have no record of words they said in taunting.

Did Noah experience pre-survivor’s guilt? 

Did he try to convince others to repent or did his simply building the ark testify to that necessity?

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Faith and holy fear lead us to a place of stillness.  Stillness in the storm.  And the worldly culture can never know this peace.  It’s far too busy ridiculing those of faith, condemning us as stupid, old-fashioned, and unscientific.  Sure, there will be distractions of people challenging our Christian faith and lampooning our love of God.  If you follow Christ, chances are good you’ve felt alone and been ridiculed.

Where are you, Noah?  All alone and feeling like a fool? 

Ridicule is an enemy of stillness.  Press on diligently at your work and keep your eyes steadfastly above.

Be Still.  Wisdom will be proved right in the end.

Be Still.  Hold onto your faith. Persevere!

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I told you this would happen.  Luke 17:26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”

Be Still and Know that I AM God. Keep your eyes on Me and remain faithfully watching.  Matthew 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Questions for reflection:

1. Are you living by faith and in holy fear of God?
2. How ready are you for His return?
3. How do you respond to the distractions of people making fun of Jesus and your walk with Christ?

Cain was angry and his face showed it. “Where are you, Cain?” God might ask.

Genesis 4: 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Where are you?  Why are you angry?  It’s not that God doesn’t know Cain is standing there angry with his hand on the spiritual doorknob. He knows the rage inside Cain was looking for a chance to take him down a bad path. Cain was thinking of inviting a sinful response to the anger he felt.

Sin is crouching at your door, God says. Don’t let it in, Cain. You be the master of it instead of letting it master you. Take stock of where you are and why you’re angry.

• Is it petty jealousy?
• Sibling rivalry?
• Is it the painful feeling of rejection that you genuinely don’t understand? Or is it simply anger at being rejected?
• Is it knowing you could have given God your very best but you were looking to cut a few corners? And you got caught taking the cheap and easy route?
• Are you angry because things didn’t go your way?
• Is it anger at how others always seem to get the praise and you never do?
• Is it that awful feeling that your anger is getting out of control and you really don’t know how to rein it in?

Anger can get in the way of our peace with God.

Sin is the archenemy of stillness, but not all anger is sin.

Anger is a genuine human emotion that we get from being created in the image of God.

God’s anger is always holy though.

Humans need to sort out righteous anger from its far more common cousin regular anger. For some of us anger and management are two words that just don’t seem to go together. But we must master it.

Be Still. Don’t jump to anything. Master yourself, then master that sin continually wanting to stage a coup.  Lay your anger down at My throne.

Be Still. Gain some perspective before doing or saying anything. Ask yourself why you’re angry?

Be Still. Know that sin is your enemy, but also know I AM waiting to be your very best advocate.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. Cain, your response of remaining angry shows that you lost perspective of what worship was supposed to be.  Worship Me.  I AM God alone.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. If you do what is right…with a right heart…you will be accepted.  I AM God and I look with favor upon righteousness.

Be Still and Remember that I AM God.

Questions for reflection:

1. What triggers make you angry?
2. Are there certain people who make you feel angry? What about them makes you angry?
3. How do you deal with anger? Do you internalize it, vent it on someone else, or bring it to God?
4. In what ways are anger and worship connected?
5. When God asked Cain why he was angry, what do you think Cain’s honest response would have been to that question?
6. Read Psalm 32.  How can recalling God’s perspective help you to Be Still and lay your anger down?

“Where are you?”  Those words have echoed through the centuries.

Where are you?” God asks.

He’s not looking for information that He doesn’t already know.  He’s looking to call us out of the grip of sin—the archenemy of stillness—and back to the peace and presence of God.

Genesis 3: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Where was God?  He was walking…in the garden…in the cool…of the day.  This is a picture of tranquility, peacefulness, stillness, and rest.  You can hear the babble of the brook as it gently tumbles over the rocks.  You can hear birds chirping softly.  And tree frogs singing their refrain.  God is walking among them and they joyfully sing their praises to Him.

Where were Adam and Eve?  Hiding, because they were ashamed and afraid.  They’d tried to cover themselves with leaves, but it wasn’t working.  Creative yet desperate attempts at covering our shame didn’t work then and they don’t work now.

“Where are you?” God might ask us.  Where is your heart?  What are you trying to hide from Me?  Don’t you think I already know?

“Where are you?” He might question so that we would take stock of where we are and what we’re doing.  He wants our own GPS to identify where we are in relation to God.  Are we like the rest of the peaceful garden?  Or do we have something to hide?

Be still.  You can come out of hiding.  I know where you are.

Be still.  I know what you have done.  I know it all.

Be still.  You cannot undo what you’ve done.  I’m not a God who looks to blame.  I’m a God who looks to love and forgive.

Know Me.  Know that I AM God.  I AM the God who made you.  I AM the God who loves you.  I AM the God who wants you to be with Me, in that place of rest and peace.

Know Me.  Know that I AM God.  I AM the God who forgives and will truly cover your shame.  I will do it Myself.

Be Still.  Know that I AM God.

* * *

Questions for Reflection:

1.  What are you trying to hide from God?  If nothing immediately comes to mind, bring it first to the human level.  What brings you thoughts of shame, things that you may be hiding from your parents, your children, your neighbors, your boss, and your friends?
2. What areas of your life have an unsettledness to them?  What do you worry about?  How might your coming closer to God and knowing He is God, help to give you peace in those areas?  What can you take out of hiding and lay before the God who knows?