Be still and know that I am God – Psalm 46:10
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still – Exodus 14:14

Do you ever feel like you are drowning?  Drowning in a sea of problems?  Problems like family issues, financial hardship, work issues, health problems, self esteem issues and the list could go on. You may be facing not just one but several things at one time and you feel like you are just trying to keep your head above water, trying to survive. We find ourselves striving to figure it all out, to fix it, to know what we need to do to make it all better or better yet to just go away. We feel helpless but we are trying. The NASB version of Psalm 46:10 reads, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” When in the midst of problems it seems hard to be still and cease striving.  I feel like I need to be doing something – if not physically then at least mentally by worrying and thinking about it all the time.

Imagine with me a person drowning in the ocean.  They are struggling to survive, fighting the waves and the water.  The harder they fight, the more tired they get and their situation becomes worse. Panic sets in. A rescue swimmer finally makes it to them.  Their first reaction is to grab hold of the rescuer and almost fight with him in an effort to get help – possibly causing them both to be drowned.  But the rescuer is trained and experienced and knows how to deal with this exact situation.  The person drowning just needs to rest in the rescuer and let him do all the work.  Let him fight the waves and the water and just rest in his effort to save him.

Isn’t this a picture of how to be still and cease striving; how to rest in God as our Savior (rescuer) when problems seem to overtake us?  He knows each of our problems and our struggles.  He longs for us to just sit back (rest) and let Him do all the work – to trust Him to handle things – to fight for us. So many of our problems are really out of our control anyway.  I can’t make people think or act differently.  I can’t heal people that are sick or diagnosed with cancer or disease.  I can’t just get more money when I need it to pay bills. And as much as I desire for people to be saved and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I can’t save them.  Only God can do any of these things and we have to trust that He will handle ALL things according to His perfect will.  Sometimes it may not be the exact outcome we wanted or hoped for but we know that because God loves us, it will ultimately be the best for us. So I invite you to join me in resting more and striving less – to let go and let God!!!