“…you shall not go out with haste…” (Isa 52:12)
It is unlikely that we have begun to understand the amazing power there is in stillness. I know I am always in such a hurry. I must always be doing something in high gear. So much so to the point where I am often in danger of not giving God a chance to work.
As Christians, we can depend upon it. God would never say to us: “Be still” or “sit still” or “stand still” unless He is going to do something! Something Big! And this is one of my biggest troubles in the Christian life. I keep wanting to do something to be a Christian, to “do God’s work,” when I really need to just slow down, wait, and let Jesus work in me, or in someone or somewhere else. I wonder, how long is it going to take me to learn to sit still, and let God have free course to do something in me. To trust Him to be able to do what I cannot? Do we as Christians really know how still we must be when our likeness is being taken? God has one over riding purpose; that we might be like Jesus. After all, isnt this what a Christian is? Someone who is like Jesus?
One of the most interesting things about this verse today from Isaiah 52:12 is really quite a remarkable revelation. We have all heard the candied mantras of relationship Gurus who say things like “don’t walk behind me and be my follower, don’t walk in front of me and make me follow you, but just walk beside me and be my friend.” But this can sometimes seem a bit like not standing still.It sounds really busy and hectic at times. In our opening text the people were told:
“You will leave Babylon, but they will not force you to leave in a hurry. You will not be forced to run away. The LORD will be in front of you. The God of Israel will be behind you.” (ERV)
What struck me so dramatically here is that the text says God will be BOTH behind and in front of them! And that can mean only one thing, that we, as Christians are surrounded by His love. We are completely surrounded when we follow God’s will. When we “stand still. And “see the salvation of the Lord.” (Exodus 14:13, 2 Chron 20:14) Not just in other people. But us. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in YOU.”
Moses was greatly troubled that his people should manifest so little faith in God, notwithstanding they had repeatedly witnessed the manifestation of His power in their behalf. How could they charge upon him the dangers and difficulties of their situation, when he had followed the express command of God? True, there was no possibility of deliverance unless God Himself should interpose for their release; but having been brought into this position in obedience to the divine direction, Moses felt no fear of the consequences. His calm and assuring reply to the people was, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” {PP 284.1}
Completely Surrounded By God’s Love And Caring
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. (Psalm 125:2)
“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;You surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalms 32:7)
“since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
“For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” (Zech 2:5)
You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.(Psalms 139:5)
Sometimes when we become impatient of standing still, of waiting on God’s time, God’s ways, we can become hostile, despairing, unhappy, or even worse. But God, in His Word is encouraging us to quiet down, to quietly realize that we are surrounded by His love,and we are merely waiting and watching for the wonderful way that God is going to help and rescue us from whatever mess we are in. When it looks like we are trapped by circumstances, the best advice we can know is to simply stand still and watch God rescue us. To watch God do a new thing.
“The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.” But you don’t want to do that.” (Isa 30:15, ERV)
Here, God warned Judah that turning to Egypt and other nations for military might could not save them. Only God could do that. They must wait for him “in quietness and confidence.” No amount of fast talking or hasty activity could speed up God’s grand design. We can have nothing to say to God but thank you. Salvation comes from God alone. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13) Because he has saved us, we can trust him and be peacefully confident that he will give us strength to face our difficulties. We should lay aside our well-laid plans and allow Jesus to act.
Perhaps this is why when Johnny Apple Seed was asked what he would do if he learned that Jesus was coming tomorrow, he replied: “I would just keep planting my apple trees.” He knew the secret of Stand Still, Slow Down, Be Quiet.
The whole Bible tells us that true Christians are brand-new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives them new life, new purposes, and they are not the same anymore. We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated—we are re-created (new creations), living in vital union with Christ (Col 2:6-7). At conversion we do not merely turn over a new leaf; we begin a new life under a new Master.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isa 43:19)
“If anyone is in Christ Jesus, ALL things become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)
Are you feeling stuck in a rut? Not sure of God’s will. Then Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. A new exodus will take place in your life through the new wilderness that The Holy Spirit Himself will lead you to and through. The past miracles that we read about in scripture, all of the previous victories in our lives are nothing compared to what God intends to do for us and in us and through us in the future!
Let us take care that we do not thwart God’s purpose in our lives. We were made to show forth His praise, (Isa 43:21); but we must beware of causing a revoking of His gracious purpose (See Num 14:34, R.V. margin): by prayerlessness, Isa 43:22; by the neglect of little things, Isa 43:23; by the lack of sweetness and tenderness in our disposition, (Isa 43:24).
Christ will be with you as you strive to strengthen your perceptive faculties, that you may more clearly behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Our stunted faculties that steal away our hope and our direction in life must be aroused. A new thing must happen. The Old Testament scriptures, blending with the New, will be to us in this our day and age as the dawning of a new creation, or as the resurrection of the soul.
Jesus said of the Old Testament Scriptures–and how much more it is true of the New–“They are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Yes, the whole Bible tells us of Christ. From the first record of creation, for “without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), to the closing promise, “Behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:12), we are reading of His works and listening to His voice, and realizing His will. If you would become acquainted with the Savior, study the Holy Scriptures.
Don’t be afraid or doubt God when it seems your life is nothing but dark clouds of confusion and hardship. A true wilderness experience. It just may be that you are in fact completely surrounded by God’s love as was Moses when he directly, deliberately went right into the dark cloud in his life. Because Moses knew the secret that he was completely surrounded by those clouds, and more importantly, Moses knew that thats exactly, right where God was:
“Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:21).
God still has His hidden secrets, hidden from even the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. Presently He will reveal to you “the treasures of darkness,” the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God’s face. Mystery is the means of God’s “new thing” that He wants to do!
Treasures Of Darkness
Never be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. (Heb 13:5). Remember, there IS light in every cloud! The other side of your cloud is radiant with God’s glory.
“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.”
When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is near. God is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion, when you are completely surrounded, you will find Jesus awaiting you, for He has promised:
I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am [also your God](Isa 45:3, NKJV)
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,to subdue nations before him;to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,that thou mayest know that I,the Lord, which call thee by thy name,am the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3).
Are we just so busy, or so troubled, that we are getting in Gods way? It looks like our Lord wants to do a lot for us, and that we are completely surrounded by the tokens of His divine favor and His “everlasting love.” (Jer 31:3). God always reaches toward his people with kindness motivated by His deep and everlasting love. He is eager to do the best for us if we would only let him. If we would just give it all up. If we would realize that there is nothing we can do. That we are completely surrounded. If we would Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet.
In Scripture we are assured that divine favor would be shown to us, just like the remnant of Judah, in answer to fervent prayer. “I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”(Jer 29:14,PK 552.3)
Often had Daniel and his companions gone over the prophecies outlining God’s purpose for His people. And just as the rapid course of events signalled the mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel gave special thought to the promises God had made to Israel. His faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into many experiences of the very thick, dark clouds foretold by the sacred writers. Yet all Daniel had to do was to Stand Still,Slow Down, And Be Quiet.
“After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon,” the Lord had declared,”I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:10-13).
God says that we already have an expected end/purpose. We dont need to find what is already in place. Surely, it must be time for some of us to Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet!