Make Time For Stillness

by John Gipson

One of the deepest needs of the human heart is for the knowledge of God. Yet how is such knowledge to be acquired? The Bible gives an answer that is very often overlooked: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46: 10).

A memory from childhood comes back to me. I recall hot summer nights in West Texas. The house, retaining the heat accumulated from the day, remained stifling at night despite the windows being open for cross-ventilation. Mother, in pity for her three sons, would say, “Would you boys like to sleep out in the backyard tonight?”

Knowing the answer in advance, she would carry some of the quilts from the house to prepare a bed for us.

For those who are not acquainted with the big sky over West Texas, the lyrics of a song might help. “The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.”

And there under a canopy of millions of lights, and an occasional shooting star, I would gaze in stillness at the magnificence of the heavens above.

Two thoughts engaged my attention. The first was how little I was compared to the vastness of the heavens. The second was how great God is in preparing such a universe.

In those moments of stillness I knew, absolutely knew, there was a God who ruled over all. It was not a matter of theory; it was experience.

I’m convinced that one of the chief hindrances to knowing God is the rush of modern life. We are so busy doing something we don’t see what God is doing.

There is a remedy. We must cease for a while from our own activities to allow a period of calm to interpose in our lives.

Anyone want to join me in the backyard?