Saturday, October 29, 2011

behold the wiggle worm


I thought that might get your attention! We'll get to the fabled "wiggle worm" in a bit. Right now I would like to share where the Lord led me to meditate one recent morning, bringing me to Psalm 46:10, a very well known verse to believers and unbelievers alike.

"Be still and know that I am God..."

So, just as I have done so many times before, I pulled up ye old trusty concordance on line and began breaking down this verse. Tap-tap-tap went my fingers, click, click, click went my mouse as I made my way to the site, all the time thinking, "I wonder what the Hebrew roots of these words really mean?" I was sure there was some sweet surprise, some undiscovered marrow, some Tootsie-pop chewy center for me to reveal. Ha. What I found left me, um...well, see for yourself; read on...

It means what it says: "Be...still."  Everything in the concordance and in various trusted translations only underscored and enhanced that thought...my favorite, I think, was "Cease striving" from the NASB, and "Let be and be still" from the Amplified conjured a Beatles' anthem in my ear when I read it. (I refrained from grabbing the nearest lighter.)

Here's the thing: all God's chillren (yes, i said 'chillren') got troubles, and if we ain't got 'em presently, we can expect that one day trouble will come (please re: John 16:33), but through every circumstance and situation God says, "Be still" ...be...still.


stop.


relax.


exhale.


let "it" drop.


be quiet.


be silent.



be still.


be.



That is so difficult for us, isn't it?

"Hold still; you're such a wiggle worm!" How many times did we hear that when we were little, usually when a parent was trying to fix a ponytail, straighten a tie, or maybe in church during the sermon; that's just the way kids are, right?

These days it's not clothing that needs adjusting or hair to be smoothed; no, even as children of God, we wiggle, we strive to 'do', to 'fix;' as our finances are in trouble, or a son or daughter is far away from the Lord, or tragedy has struck in one way or another. And when it comes to us as children of God, the Father in heaven, we continue to be little wiggle worms, don't we?  We are a bunch of "doers" and we're missing or ignoring what He is saying to us: "Be."

Especially me. I'm a fixer. I love to, um, "help."  But you know what? God doesn't need my help to fix anything in my life. The only thing He wants me to do is be still in my spirit and walk in faith in Him. Trust; that is what He's requiring of me.

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