Sacred Stillness: Hands Down for Worship and Trust

At the end of a demanding day, Christ and His apostles entered a ship. Exhausted, the Savior moved to the rear of the ship and fell asleep. Suddenly “a great storm of wind came on, and waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.” Terrified, His followers woke Him: “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” With perfect calmness and control, “he rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, “Peace, be still.” Still, in the Savior’s time, referred to lowering one’s hands and ceasing to struggle: from Hebrew raphah, translated as slacking or becoming weak. The violent wind and waves eased off and became calm.

Like the wind and the waves, we are subject to conditions where we can lose control; when we allow ourselves sacred stillness, we can worship God in peace, recognizing and rejoicing in His love.

Adrenaline Flowing

In our noisy, stressful everyday lives, our adrenal glands are overworked. International Christian leader Dieter F. Uchtdorf, remarked, “When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be.”

Mr. Uchtdorf advised us to “slow down a little [and] steady the course” (thus to relax into sacred stillness). He continued, “the humble Man of Galilee stands with hands outstretched, waiting.” In sacred stillness we can see Him and understand His invitation. In tension, we are so distracted we may look past, above, or even through Him.

On the website Christianity Today, James Spiegel wrote:

In every Christian's life there comes a time when one must wait upon God. Sometimes we must wait for a need to be met, such as finding a job. Other times we must wait for the satisfaction of a significant desire, like finding a spouse or conceiving a child. At other times we wait for God to fulfill a promise, to comfort during a trial, or to give us assurance of our forgiveness for some sin. In these cases, we must be patient with God.

As we learn patience, sacred stillness can bring the patient humility we need. If our hands are up and about defending or covering ourselves or reaching for the attractive things of the world, we cannot see accurately. When we bring them down, we as well as the Lord know what they are doing. Many are not interested in lowering their hands or regulating their minds and behavior, though doing so could bring them closer to God.

Worship Increasing

Our most direct reference to stillness is in Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Liz Auld, an editor of the Christian site Crosswalk.com, wrote, “’Be still…’ [was] written in the context of a time of trouble and war; therefore, we should consider the verse with that context in mind.” She clarified, “The people of God should interpret the command for themselves to read more like: ‘snap out of it,’ ‘wake up,’ ‘stop fearing’—acknowledge who your God is—be in awe!”

Russell M. Nelson, who leads an international Christian denomination, brought this awe and protection into a modern context.

Our Heavenly Father never intended that we would deal with the maze of personal problems and societal issues on our own . . . His Son, Jesus Christ, gave His life for us . . . so that we could have access to godly power—power sufficient to deal with the burdens . . . and temptations of our day.

As we acknowledge who God is—and the power He is willing to share with us—we will be in awe of Him. He can calm our fears like the boisterous, destructive waves of the sea. Our worship is meaningful and focused, and we can experience sacred stillness and peace.

Dieter Uchtdorf (cited earlier) gave instruction especially for the stillness scripture:

To strengthen our relationship with God, we need some meaningful time alone with Him. Quietly focusing on daily personal prayer and scripture study . . . will be some wise investments of our time and efforts to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. Let us heed the invitation in Psalms: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

He gave an example of a woman who practiced stillness-service. Illness and age prevented her from most forms of service, but “although she couldn’t do much, she could listen.” Every week she looked about her for people she thought seemed discouraged or otherwise troubled. “She spent time with them, listening. What a blessing she was in the lives of so many people.”

In her personal sacred stillness, she helped other people to be still.

Stillness Trusting

The Bible is relevant across times and spaces, as is sacred stillness. The psalmist who conveyed the message to “be still” with God lived during the time period c930 to c586 B.C.

A beloved hymn that is bringing this message and assurance to Christians of all denominations in many languages today was written in the early 1700s by Katharina von Schlegel in Cothen, Germany, where she may have been in charge of a Lutheran nunnery.

Germany at this time was developing and reforming with economic and legal changes. With its loosely connected principalities and states, wars and battles were prevalent. Katharina von Schlegel would have understand the changes and uncertainties involved with social and political unrest and with war.

She may have put anxieties of living in these conditions and her strong Christian faith together as she responded to Psalm 46 with its reassuring promise for stillness with “Be Still My Soul.” It is sung to a tune that is also well loved, the theme to Finlandia by Sibelius.

Be still my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still my soul: The hour is hast’ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord.

When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still my soul: When change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

As Paul promised the Philippians (4:7), “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Hearts and minds are what God asks of us in our sacred stillness, as our “thorny ways” lead to Christ at last.