Be still, and know that I am God.(Psalm 46:10)
One way to be giving glory to God is by standing still. While the world unknowingly rushes headlong over the cliffs of corruption, we stay put. Blaise Pascal said, “When everything is moving at once, nothing appears to be moving, as on board ship. When everyone is moving towards depravity, no one seems to be moving, but if someone stops, he shows up the others who are rushing on by acting as a fixed point.” As believers we are to be that fixed point. The whole world is headed for destruction, but God saves us out of it, and we are to live as lights in this world (Philippians 2:15).
Now the truth is that a lighthouse doesn’t actually “save” anybody, but its light prevents many from being shipwrecked. The world is always talking about moving forward, but they don’t even know where they are going, as they are without a compass. As Christians, we have a map, we have a light, the Word of God, and we can live, and move, and have our being guided as by God when we walk in the Spirit of that Word. We move on with the Gospel, and as we walk the path of repentance and faith we walk in the Spirit, we show others the Way, and we stand firm against the enemy, “and having done all, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:13 – ESV)”.
Of course, we know that this will bring persecution, but it will also glorify God (1 Peter 4:12-14). We will be called “holier than thou”, accused of impeding progress, and warned that we are becoming irrelevant and losing our credibility. And so we can then glorify God as God, as it says we do not naturally do in Romans 1:21, etc. This is how to do it. It is Christ who allows us to suffer for His sake and glorify God. We do it by standing still. Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD…(Exodus 14:13).
10 comments:
Amen! Question, can I sit still? Just kidding, small joke! God bless.
It seems like the comments have reached a standstill...
"We do it by standing still. 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD…'(Exodus 14:13)."
That reminds me. Last week, we saw the movie Gods and Generals. I was quite impressed with the faith expressed by Stonewall Jackson.
Yeah, the first movie, Gettysburg, I thought was great...in G&G, the answer that one man gave General Jackson about slavery rang true to me...even though many faithful men may have been on the Confederate side, I really do think it was the wrong choice for them to make...
G&G was 1st. Gettysburg was 2 of 3. Yeah, it was the Irishman, right? He talked wanting not to be judged by who his father was, but by his actions.
Growing up, I thought that the Civil War was all about the "bad" South wanting slavery and the "good" North wanting all men to be treated equal. Today, slavery is illegal, but people of color are still not treated equal today, and a proponent of states' rights can make a good argument for his case (states' rights) from the constitution. These things combined with the invention of the harvester which would have lead to a technologically empowered emancipation... the slaves probably would have been freed, state by state within a relatively short perod of time. All of this without so much bitterness and the staggering amount of blood that was shed. I wonder what America might be like if we could have avoided the Civil War. All this to say that it was probably more complicated than the story I learned in grade school.
(whew!) But the way General Stonewall Jackson's faith was integrated in his life, the way he prayed with his dear "Esposita," the way he knew that there was no way he could be killed by man unless God Almighty ordained it... There was a fine example of a man who would not be shaken by the things of this world; he knew how to be still for sure.
I am agreeing with 'ya on that, for sure...I saw Gettysburg on TV years before G&G was out in theaters, but I guess G&G is meant as a prequel? What if's are interesting to think about, but right now is when we need to exalt Christ, and ironically we can do this standing still...
Yeah, you know talking about the Civil War at all these days descends into its very own uncivil war of words, it seems...so much baggage, and no one wants to unpack it...
12/18/06
I am glad to see all is well. No post yesterday had me concerned for you. I would say I hope you enjoyed your time off, if I thought for a moment that you ever really have any.
Good post and nice visual illustration.
I used to think that things would be so nice to go back to 'Little House On The Prarie' days, where there was no technology. Back in '96 I remember hearing that for the last hundred or so years, technology was doubling itself each year. Each future year brought us 2x the ammount of advances and moving foward in science and tech.
I know one thing. Technology moving foward, though allowing us to have this conversation right now, hasn't moved me foward in my Christian walk. It takes me away from my quiet time. It fills me with amazement and wonder of it, rather than what I want to have which is perpetual amazement and wonder of my Almighty God. It gives me new idols and new things to covet. Yet, each year I have all new things to battle to the second power.
Somehow in all the doubling of tech, they still can't even COME CLOSE to proving evolution, but we are becoming irrelevant and losing our credibility.
I shall stand fast until your next post.....
It is interesting to think about, isn't it?
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