Be Still and Grow

Good morning to you, dear friends! 

Please turn to Psalm 46 and let us gratefully and humbly read it together:

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. 

According to alamoth. A song.

1 

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

2 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 

though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 

God is within her, she will not fall;

    God will help her at break of day.

6 

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 

Come and see what the Lord has done,

    the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 

He makes wars cease

    to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the shields[d] with fire.

10 

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Here we come to the last full day of our time together in Music Camp 2015. You and I have been studying aspects of God’s invitation to us to enter spiritual stillness:

On Sunday, July 19, we discovered our theme for this year’s camp—Be Still. Is spiritual stillness a gift you and I have received or an invitation to which we have responded positively this morning?

On Monday, July 20, we reflected upon the theme “Be Still and Pray”—that the Father has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through praying continually. Have you and I embraced the stillness inherent in prayer? Do we see Christ as the Sunshine of righteousness and the Light of the world in the midst of dark times? Is our prayer life leading us to know the hope to which Christ has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance in us, and His incomparably great power for us who believe?

On Tuesday, July 21, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Read”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through reading His precious Word. Have we embraced the truth that Bible reading is indeed a conversation between God and humanity initiated and achieved by God Himself? Do we patiently remain in continuous fellowship with Him as we spend more and more time in the Word? Do we seek to expand this connection through reading the Word with others?

On Wednesday, July 22, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Hear”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through hearing His voice. Are we aware that it is in God’s nature to speak, to communicate with His creation through natural, special, and personal revelation? Are we committing ourselves to take the time and smell the roses, to spend time imbibing the truths of God’s Word, and to pause long enough to sense the personal probing of the Holy Spirit?

On Thursday, July 23, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Heed”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through heeding the Father’s commands at all times. Is it clear to us that heeding God’s voice opens our eyes to witness the work of Christ amidst the harshest of storms? Have we embraced the fact that spiritual stillness causes to grow in prudence, wisdom, and gratitude?

On Friday, July 24, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Learn”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through learning from Him. Have we embraced the lessons He teaches about Himself in the midst of our weaknesses and trials? Do we grow to see Him as Jehovah Jireh (the God who provides), Jehovah Nissi (The Lord our banner), Jehovah Rapha (The Lord who heals), Jehovah M’kaddesh (The Lord who sanctifies), El Shaddai (The all-sufficient God), Jehovah Tsikednu (The Lord our righteousness)?

On Saturday, July 25, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Praise”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through praising Him every day. Have we brought to the Lord our weaknesses and worries, our broken and contrite hearts, as an act of humble and grateful worship? Have we allowed His creativity to be unleashed in us in the process of our praising Him from sunrise to sunset and through the watches of the night?

On Sunday, July 26, we beheld the glory of God in our completely surrendering our hearts and souls and minds into His hands. And, yesterday, Monday July 27, we focused on the theme “Be Still and Love”—that Christ has invited us to enter spiritual stillness through loving God and neighbor. Is sacrificial love our response to God and His children though ridiculed, afflicted, and tempest-tossed?

Today, we will end our time together with the theme “Be Still and Grow.”

If you will indulge me, I'd like to approach today’s theme from a gardener's perspective. Each heart is a garden that needs to get started from scratch. The initial step comes from the Father who places the desire in the heart to want to know Him a little better. Then, the gardener follows this initial desire and decides to go to the yard. In spiritual terms, ‘going to the yard’ is the concept of going to meet God. So, each time you and I feel the urge to find solace, comfort, or pleasure somewhere else, spiritual stillness invites us to go to God's word first (Mt 4:4; Ps 119:11). We cannot till the soil of our garden from our bedroom or living room; we have to go to the right location. That is the same thing with spiritual growth; we have to go to God's Word so He can tend to our hearts.

Second, the gardener has to examine the soil to determine its condition before deciding what to plant. In spiritual terms, examining one's heart requires prayer. We are called to pray asking God to help us understand the passage(s) we are about to read or the one(s) we've just read because without His help we are all lost. God will always reveal to us what His good and perfect will is.

Third, the gardener picks his tools to start digging, weeding, or whatever else he might need to do after examining the soil. Spiritually speaking, our tools are prayer, the Bible, and worship. Spiritual stillness invites us to take the time to read and study prayers from the Bible:

The Lord's Prayer (Mt 6:9-13)
The Prayer of Jesus (Jn 17)
Solomon's Prayer (1 Kings 8:22-53)
Paul's prayers (Eph. 1:15-19; Eph. 3:14-21; Col. 1:9-14; Col. 4:2-6)
David's prayer (Ps. 51)

And many others . . .

We study these prayers so we can imitate God's Word until we learn to speak God's language when we pray. Spiritual stillness encourages us to commit to praying biblically until we become fluent heeders of God’s presence and power. And we try not to simply go through the motions but to mean every word we utter.

Fourth, the gardener fertilizes and plants small plants/flowers/shrubs. As we enter spiritual stillness, the Holy Spirit fertilizes our faith according to Gal. 5:22-23 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). Then, slowly and gradually, He will add other qualities as those tiny plants take root.

Fifth, the gardener recognizes the need to water regularly to prevent the tiny plants from dying. Hence the spiritual basis for regular quiet time (both personal and with others) with God. It is our food. When we skip meals our bodies tell us that something is wrong. When we skip our quiet times, our moods go haywire and we are a mess to have around. We can get irritable or whiny. So, we go to God who Himself waters our hearts with encouragement from His Word and Spirit.

Sixth, the good gardener weeds and prunes diligently. We weed spiritually by heeding the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Weeds are things, activities that invade our lives to such an extent that they supersede God in our lives. Addictions, tedious tasks, temptations are all weeds threatening to invade garden of our hearts. Only God can take care of the weeds in our lives. However, we are called to surrender ourselves to Him completely. Pruning means that sometimes we have to let go of things that are good for something even better. Growing in God means listening to God's voice as He leads.

Lastly, the gardener enjoys his work, is grateful, and invites others to come see the garden. Likewise, spiritual stillness invites us to give thanks to God for His work in our lives and allow others in to see what He is doing in our lives.

Friends, you and I have been summoned by God to cease striving, to stop worrying, to quit fretting, and to be still and know that He is God. Spiritual stillness and knowing God involve growing in Him. Peter recognizes that truth when He wrote, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) 

But why did Peter write that? It is because the Holy Spirit wanted to stimulate believers to wholesome thinking. (2 Peter 3:1) And what is wholesome thinking? Wholesome thinking is the spiritual stillness revealing to us that Christ is God. That Christ is the One to whom we pray. That Christ’s very Word is that which we are to read, hear, heed, and learn. That Christ is the One whom we praise. That Christ’s love is that which we are invited to embrace and emulate. That Christ is all we need to grow in the Father's matchless grace and perfect knowledge. Indeed, my friends, let us be still and know that the Lord of hosts is God!

Holy Father, we thank You for the challenges, weaknesses, thorns, and trials that come our way. Open our eyes to see that, no matter how insurmountable our problems appear to us, they are but opportunities to teach us and others that You are indeed God, that You initiate a lifelong conversation with each of us, that Your voice is speaking to us, that the sufficiency and completion of Your work on the cross is an unspeakable blessing, that Your power is made perfect in our weakness, that You long for our unceasing worship, that You will not give Your glory to another, that there is great joy for us in surrendering our weaknesses and worries to You, and that each and every day we will grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Please, Lord, use our troubles and tempests to reveal to us that You are our shield, our deliverer, the lifter of our heads, our garment of glory, and the blessedness that surrounds us. With a God like You, what can ANYONE do to us, indeed? Thank You for teaching us, O Holy Spirit! I pray all of this in the name of the I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the Bright Morning Star, Jesus. Amen!