Be Still and Know

Psalm 46
"God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress."

This passage stuck out to me tonight as I was thinking about this past year and everything that has happened. I started this year of DLA angry that I was coming back and wasn't Core. I just could not understand what I would be gaining by coming back without being in a position to lead. God told me right off the bat that He wanted me to just sit at His feet and learn who He is. I, of course, spent most of my time struggling and fighting that. I thought if I wasn't supposed to be Core then maybe His plan was to connect me with one of the many awesome missions organizations that are based here. Nope. Instead I work at Chick-fil-a. 

Through out the year He has had to keep reminding me over and over and over again that I am here to KNOW Him. All He wanted from me was to BE STILL and KNOW who He is, and who I am as a result of that. What strikes me in Psalm 46 is that it is not a calm passage. There is war, trouble, the earth being destroyed, and turmoil. Yet in the midst of all that He says not to fear, to be calm, and understand who He is in the midst of everything. I always thought that to be still you had to be in a place where there is peace and quiet. But this verse says otherwise. In the middle of all your troubles, trials, and fast paced life, BE STILL. That is when you need to KNOW who God is the most; when everything around you is falling apart.

I still do not know what I am going to do after DLA. I have about two weeks left and absolutely no idea what my life will look like or where I'll be living. But for the first time in my life I am not a completely terrified of major change. He has proven Himself so, so faithful these past two years that I know He has a plan. He will reveal it when I'm ready. In the meantime I will praise Him for all the good has done. For He is good, no matter the circumstances. If that is the only thing I learned this year, then it was more than worth it.