Summer can be a crazy busy time. Fun but chaotic. Maybe this doesn’t apply to everyone, but I know I really feel the heat during this season.

On Friday I returned home from a retreat in the mountains with my school, two days before that trip I came home from a road trip to Colorado, and a week prior to that I was at camp with my church.

Whew!

Amidst all that fun, it’s hard for an introvert like me to find a quiet moment. I know that we all enjoy the go go go of summer to a certain degree. Yet at the same time, there is something to be said for just sitting in the quiet.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

I want to take a moment to focus on the first part of this verse. “Be still, and know that I am God.” It’s interesting to me that a comma is placed after be still, almost as if to say ‘do this before anything else.”

We must take the time out of all the chaos of life to just sit and be before we can really revel in the fact that He is God.

What I find so interesting about this verse is that it is placed in the middle of a section describing the actions of the Lord.

“Come, behold the works of the Lord, how He has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:8-11, emphasis added)

It’s is extremely difficult to see God working in my life when I never step back and let the presence of His Holy Spirit wash over me. 

In these moments I am more easily reminded of His sovereignty and love for me, even when I feel like I’m falling apart, even when life is chaotic. Being still doesn’t mean the busyness will cease, it means my soul is quieted and I see the greatness of the One Who holds the world in His hands.

Then I can truly hear Him speak to my heart.

I think we sometimes get in this mentality that to hear God speak we have to hear a big booming voice from the clouds. But that just isn’t the case for most of us.

God speaks to us through creation. Looking out over the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the ocean all in the same month,  I can’t help but think “God, You are GREAT.” And the same God who made those mountains where I’ve left my heart, made me and loves me. The most holy, majestic King and Creator who spoke those towering giants into existence calls my name too.

As the old hymn sings, “Holy, holy, holy
Lord, God Almighty
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons blessed Trinity.”

God speaks to us through other believers. If I’m honest there are days when I emotionally don’t feel Jesus’s love. During those times I feel His love through the love of those around me. His love pours from my parents, my grandparents, my best friend, my church leaders. When I look at the love these people show me it’s nearly impossible for me to question the love of Christ.

But most importantly, God speaks to us through His word, the Bible. We often forget in listening that God has already spoken to us everything we need to hear in His word.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1-4, emphasis added)

In being still it is most important for us to remember the love and grace Christ has bestowed on us.

He speaks to our hearts out of His love for us. 

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

He and He alone harbors this kind of love for us. The kind of love that allows us to be still  and see His greatness so that we might have joy beyond all compare.

I’ll end with the words of one of my favorite hymns.

“My life goes on in endless song
Above earth’s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it’s music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?”