Be Still and Know

“Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry.” A.W. Tozer

God’s wrath was poured out on the people of Judah because of their idolatry. Their idolatry indicated a heart that was sold out to all other but God. And they demonstrated their devotion to their idols by their extreme means to please them.

It did not matter whether their means were despicable, evil, degrading, self-loathing, or victimizing. Their goal was to please the idol so they would in turn get what they selfishly wanted. It was ultimately all about them and never even about the idol, and certainly in this worship of idols, God was not present in their minds or their hearts. Their view of God had been distorted. As A. W. Tozer said, “Idolatrous hearts assume that God is other than He is and this is a monstrous sin…”

While the people of God’s church today may not bow to a carved wooden frame of an idol and worship it, we are not without idolatry. Our idolatry is more subtle and we are often unaware of them unless we start to answer a few questions concerning them.

When tragedy or challenges in life strike, who or what do we turn to?

How do we define God in those moments of distress? Is He all knowing, or is He a means to an end?

How do we handle our responsibilities? Do we skirt them? Do we embrace them? Do we blame others when things go awry? 

Do we worry about the unknown, giving it prominence in our life? Or do we worship God through the unknown, giving Him the prominence?  

Do we take life’s tests as God’s way to develop us or destroy us?

What part of the supernatural do we embrace? God’s presence and power or God’s demonstrations of presence and power? Whom or which do we desire more?

We live in a world where materialism is worshiped; comfort is upheld as blessings from God; children are determined as a reflection of their parent’s ‘greatness’ instead of God’s vessels that bring Him praise; dependence upon supernatural powers and God’s creation is more important than God Himself. The list of idols goes on. Has something or someone else been given God’s eminence in your life?  Has God been distorted from His true being in your view?

Walking past a very large nativity scene at church yesterday, I couldn't help but ask the question, “Do we worship carved creations of man at Christmas?” While I nor anyone at our church that I am aware of bows to such a sculpture,  I couldn't help but wonder if we perceive God only as the “what” and not the Who?

Let’s face it, God is not an object to obtain, He is The All Powerful Undefinable Being we are to embrace. His being is far greater than our perceptions and definitions that we try to mold.

He is holy, try carving that. He is omnipotent, try defining this. He is ever present; imitate this with images, can you? He is eternal; express this through our lens of reality. He is righteous, try explaining this without the filthy rags of man. Bottom line: We cannot figure God out, we are not even told to do this in scripture. Our job is to trust Him, believe Him, embrace Him, walk with Him, and obey Him. I don’t see in scripture where we are to question Him, define Him, mold Him, and make Him. He is, regardless of what we perceive and He will always be regardless of what we make of Him.

When tragedy and challenges in life strike, trust Him, not what He does or How He blesses. He is all together good. His righteousness is not ours (thank Him for that). His power is only felt by His presence; we can’t presume His power is found in things. Why would we? They will pass away, He will not. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I AM God.” This verse does not teach us to be or carve tangible things. 

This verse shows us tangible actions to live: Be Still and Know.

Nothing else is God, He is, He will be, and He will always be. Know HIM! And then your actions will be ever so purposeful in pleasing Him while He blesses you and those in your influence.