Day 77 - Be still and know that I am God

My cat Geraldine was stalking a mouse. She sat motionless, her eyes open wide, patiently waiting for the mouse to make it’s move. How long she sat for I don’t know, but in the end she came in with a triumphant meow and placed the mouse at my feet! I said, “Thank you”.

A minister friend once gave me a word: “Be still and know that I am God”. He said for us it’s not just about sitting still it’s about being still, knowing God has got this. Yea right, I thought, how can I sit still when everything is collapsing around me. My husband was dying, we were trying to move house, my child (now an adult) was kicking off because she didn’t know how to deal with things, my other child was breaking up with her boyfriend and I was having stress related fits.

“Be still!” Yea, right.

With all that’s going on in the world right now it can feel a bit like that, can’t it? Poverty, war, famine, global warming, the cost of living rising every 5 mins.

But wait a minute, despite everything, God has got this!

Read Revelation 21: 1-4

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…”.

Not a triumphant meow but a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look, God’s dwelling place is now among the people.”

We can play our part and pray, we can ask God to fix it, and He will - but He needs our help. He needs us to join in with the restoration of Eden, even the smallest thing like recycling a plastic bottle will help.

Many of our congregations are tired, they are elderly and aching, they can no longer run the youth group or the Boys Brigade and feel redundant. But guess what? They can sit still, and they can pray. They can be our listening ears and help us interpret what is being asked of us, they have experience we can learn from, they have been there before.

Think of a team, rugby or football, each player has a job to do. Well, God’s team is no different, from baking cakes on a Sunday (the gift of hospitality), to leading a service or just being still and saying a prayer - it’s all part of the bigger picture.

On the cross, as Jesus died, He called out: “It is finished!” The last piece of the puzzle was put in place, we can rest assured and “be still”. It will be OK in the end, God just needs us to join in with the repair job till then. So we can all be together. “There will be no more death or mourning” and hopefully even Geraldine’s mouse will be restored. A new heaven and a new earth. Just like Geraldine we need to be patient, be still and know that God has got this.

Sarah McGrory