March 31, 2003 Monday
Silent and Still Before the Almighty

"But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep
silence before him." - Habakkuk 2:20

When we meditate on the presence of our Lord we are often drawn to the infinite brightness of His glory, rushing waters stirred by His voice, and mountains trembling at His very sight: "God came...The Holy One...His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand...the mountains saw You and trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by." (Habakkuk 3:3-10) The prophet, however, also reveals to us a vividly contrasting response to our Lord's presence..."The sun and moon stood still". (Habakkuk 3:11) God tells us very clearly in His Word that He has given us a time for everything, including, "a time to keep silence". (Ecclesiastes 3:7) Our hearts should be crushed and we should be humbled to our knees when we consider that even the sun and moon have no reservations in standing silent and still before the Lord of all creation, but we simply make excuses for not having the time; that in itself reveals our degrading sinfulness and how out of touch we truly are of Christ's desire for our life. God has often been known to shudder a person's life to the maximum in order to open their ears to His voice. Elijah once stood before the Lord on a mountain as "the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:11,12) Never allow yourself to become overwhelmed when the Lord allows what would appear to be overwhelming circumstances into your life in order to get your attention, and never waste time focusing on the circumstances when you should be listening to His "still small voice". Are you standing silent and still before the Almighty? If not, "Be still, and know that I am God". (Psalm 46:10)