Be Still and Really Know

Can you really know anything in this age of "fake news?" Can you know yourself or anyone else? An ancient verse says we can know when we get still. Listen in to learn more...



An archive podcast from the first season of Encouraging Being. 

Transcript

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be Still and Know…”

What do you know?

Knowing is what our culture does. We look up something on Google and “Know it.” This has been called “the information age” because so much information is available to us now. You can know almost everything there is to know about anything; just look it up. But we can be, as the saying goes, “a mile wide and an inch deep.” 

The simple transfer of a fact from a repository of some kind into your head is not the same as knowing at a deep level. If it is just a download of information, it can just as quickly be forgotten as it was obtained. 

If “to know” is a deeper experience, it is having information, yes, but something more. It is having a “feel” for someone or something. Do you know yourself? Do you know your own deeper thoughts and feelings? Do you know what and who matters most to you?

I think about what I know. I know my wife and son and his family but still not completely. I know friends and other family but in ways that could go deeper. I know that sometimes I feel defeated. I know there are things I want to do with my life that I still haven’t done and part of me will not let me surrender to defeat. But I also know that surrender is part of what I need, surrender to God, surrender from trying to live life on my own power. 

Being Still is a way to know. Being Still is required to hear God and our own deepest desires. When we really get still, we begin first to see new insights; then begin to know more deeply. Personally, when I make time for stillness, I start to get new perspectives. Certain directions and ideas begin to feel like the way to go; I trust that I “know” new ways. 

A young friend of mine told me about her struggle to choose between two colleges to pick the one she wanted to attend. I encouraged her to tell me more details, and she described each school, its benefits and drawbacks. She knew them both well so could explain what she liked and did not like, even about the communities. As I listened, it seemed to me obvious which one she wanted more. She described her future college in wistful terms, with smiles and even details about what the college town had to offer. So, I told her “I think you already know which one,” to which she smiled and agreed, “yes I guess you are right.”  My young friend said she didn’t know, but she did. Some reflection of her own ideas from me helped her to see. 

We can get caught up in the details of information, trying to sort things out, like making pros and cons lists to help us decide. At other times, we can just be unfocused and confused. But when we sit with ourselves, the deeper knowing is possible. It just may take more intentional time, quiet, and surrender than we have given it so far. 

What if in you, and by accessing God’s loving presence, you can know? You can truly know enough for now. You can know what your next step can be; you can know enough to get to the place that will reveal even more. You may also come to know yourself with deeper understanding, bringing more peacefulness to your life. 

Each time we meet I share with you a way to get into the present moment, usually focusing on sensations in your body. Try this exercise: 

Choose a part of your body where you will focus your mind. It can be your heart, your shoulder, your foot, any part. But choose just one area. When you do this, close your eyes, do your best to ignore other thoughts that come your way, and just feel that body area. 

Is that part of your body warm? Does it hurt? Picture small segments of that part, like centimeters or inches. Move around the area in your mind, noticing tension, relaxation, pain, or comfort. If you feel pain, notice the area around the pain that does not hurt. For a few minutes “know” this part of your body. This is part of you; make friends with it. This can be a calming and grounding experience. I hope it is for you. After you have given this your full attention for a while, you may let go of this narrow focus on only one part of your body. 

And now, receive the comfort and challenge of these words from Psalms 46:10: “Be still and know…” As you ponder this instruction, be physically still. Like the sensations you felt from your body, what comes to you from this command to be still and know? What challenges you about these words? What comforts you?

I pray you will not be satisfied with living on the surface; but go deeper and know.