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Be Still

Tehillim (Psalm) 46:10 
Be still, and know that I am Elohim;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.   

There is so much noise in the world today it is becoming increasingly difficult to “be still.”  With all the different TV shows available vying for one’s attention, with all the different types of music one can listen to for pleasure, and now with the internet and all it has to offer and all that is available on it, it is a wonder YHWH is able to speak to us and that we hear Him at all these days.

Many of these things can even be legitimate; that is, they can actually be a good thing if used in the proper way.  However, even when one uses these things as a means to learn more about our world and about our Creator and about what is going on in our world today, if one is not “still” on the inside, what use is it, really?

For example, one can spend all his time reading, watching teaching videos, and doing research on the internet, but what good will all of this knowledge do him if he never takes the time to be still before YHWH his Maker?  Such a person may actually find all that knowledge to be robbing him of the one thing he needs the most, inner peace.

The Hebrew word for “be still” is הַרְפּוּ – “har-pu” with the root being רפה – “ra-phah” which means, “to release from control.”  What this verse is teaching then, is that in order for one to truly be still before YHWH our Creator, one must relinquish control of one’s life over to his Creator.  Only in this way will one come to truly understand that YHWH is Elohim!

Yochanan (John) 17:3 
“And this is life eternal, that they should know You the only true Elohim, and Him whom You did send, even Yeshua Mashiach.”

The implication of the passage in Tehillim (Psalm) is that without being still it is not truly possible to know that YHWH is Elohim.  Only in that stillness or in the giving up of control of one’s life can one truly know YHWH is Elohim and Yeshua is the Mashiach which He sent into the world.

2nd Timothy 3:7 
ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

There is so much information in our world today it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine what is true and what is simply someone’s ideas, someone’s opinions.  Many things are put out into the world to be consumed by the general population that is simply disinformation or misinformation.  A lot of this is accepted as good, right, and true because it makes a person feel good.  People today are searching for answers like never before in history.  Sometimes the search for those answers leads one away from His truth instead of into the midst of it.  If what one is finding is not bringing a deep inner peace, then it should be thoroughly examined and questioned.  There are many today who simply say what they think others want to hear in order to gain acceptance and thus donations and support from their listeners and readers.

2nd Timothy 4:3-4 
3 For the time will come when they will not endure the sound teaching; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts;
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

So how does one protect himself from being drawn into this mindset; that is, looking for teachers who support and agree with what one thinks and believes?  Not only must all things be proven as Scripture teaches us to do, but one also must find that place of inner peace.  We must be still to know that YHWH is Elohim.  When one is still before YHWH, this then gives him the ability to hear His Voice clearly and thus determine if the person speaking or writing is a person to whom one should listen.

Qorintyah Aleph (1st Corinthians) 13:2 
And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Many people today spend hour upon hour on the internet searching for answers to their questions and to what is happening in our world today.  However, they have no inner shalom (peace).  Many today are running to and fro acting much in the same way as Chicken Little did, crying out to any and all who will listen that the “sky is falling.”  If, in fact, the “sky is falling,” then there is nothing you or I can do about it, anyway. 

Let us put it in another way.  If YHWH has told us in advance something is going to happen, then it will happen in His perfect time!  Of that, we can be absolutely certain; which is pretty amazing considering we live in an uncertain world.  Moreover, since this is so, there is no need to be disturbed in one’s inner peace.  YHWH is in control, whether one can see it or not.

Matithyah (Matthew) 24:25 
“Behold, I have told you in advance.”

Yeshua taught certain things because He expects one to be prepared for what is coming in much the same way Noach was told in advance and made the appropriate preparations.  The preparations one is to make are to be done in obedience to Him and His Voice, but they are not to be done in fear of what is coming.

Regardless of what happens in this world, one should have his eyes focused upon Him.  When one keeps his eyes upon Him with that inner shalom present because he knows who He is, then regardless of what happens, he will not act in fear of the circumstances.  Rather, one will act in loving obedience to His Voice.  Furthermore, do not expect each and every person’s preparations to look exactly like every other person’s preparations.  YHWH has put the body of Mashiach together according to His will.  Therefore, each person will be led to prepare according to His will in order to provide for the greater good of His body.

So, as one prayerfully considers these matters and seeks to be still before YHWH, let us also keep in mind the following passage.

Shemot (Exodus) 14:15 
And YHWH said to Moshe, “Why do you cry to Me?  Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.”

Just two verses before this one YHWH through Moshe tells the people to stand still and not to fear, for they would see the salvation of YHWH.  Before they see His salvation He tells them to go forward.  It is in the very act of going forward that they witness His salvation.  You see, before one can truly move forward, one must be still on the inside.  Oh sure, one can physically move from one place to another without having inner peace, but that is not really the point of what YHWH wants one to learn.

YHWH would like for us to learn to intentionally give up the reins of our lives to Him so that the physical movement will actually be in the right direction, so that it would actually be in a forward direction.  Many times the direction we think is the correct direction is not actually moving forward at all.  By the way, a forward direction is always moving in the direction of doing His will.

So, be still and know YHWH is your Elohim.  This will also enable you to see clearly and understand the direction in which He wants you to move.

ABBA YHWH, we pause before you. Teach us to do this regularly so our inner peace will grow and mature in the knowledge and understanding of Mashiach Yeshua, in whose name we pray. Amein!

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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