“Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth’” (Psalm 46:8-10).

In yesterday’s devotion, the psalmist reminded us that freedom from our deep fears is possible because God himself feeds us with the river of his sustaining love. Now the psalmist asks us to look out over the world and see God’s power. While weather-related disasters and human-wrought disasters abound, God does not allow the full fruition of evil to take place. Many times he stops evil all together. He “breaks the bow and shatters the spear.” 

God calls out definitively as we, in our minds, spin tales of disaster and contemplate our own resources: “Be still and know that I am God.”

God calls us to stop our anxious fluttering. Stop fanning fears. Stop feeding anxieties. Stop doom scrolling on cell phones and spreading the misdeeds of others. Stop. Be still and know that God is God.

We can dwell instead in this reality: Our God reigns. Take five minutes and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in the way of lasting peace. How is God your refuge? How is God your fortress? Picture yourself abiding, living along the river of his sustaining love. Lord, help us change and live in you!