Be Still…Know…and Go
by Lyn Packer
October 2023.
With the world in turmoil, taking time to listen to the Lord for wisdom, insight into what is happening, and solutions is even more important than ever.
The Lord is calling us to set time aside to get quiet, to listen, to be still and know afresh that He is God.
Without taking that time to be still and come into that place of re-centering our hearts and minds in Him we will be storm tossed and wearied by the many other voices that clamour for our attention. The world is filled with voices that speak much but say little of value, voices that call for solutions but offer no viable answers, voices that confuse and seek to instil fear, to terrorise and steal hope, voices that want to kill within people the ability to dream, and reduce them to a state of dependence on man’s wisdom.
God is calling us to first come to Him so we may receive His peace, and that we may resist the turmoil and fear that seek to overwhelm our hearts and minds. He is calling us to come so that we might hear His heart and receive wise counsel from Him. And He is calling us to come so that we may each be provisioned for this time, and for the assignments He has for each of us within it.
It is not enough to receive our information or counsel from the news, or even from our favourite pastor or prophet. God is the foremost source that we need to turn to, and the only one with a true and full picture of all that is happening. All mankind, no matter how many educational degrees they have or how anointed and gifted they are, have partial knowledge and limited perspective. Only God sees and understands the full picture.
He is also wanting to remind us that not only are we, each of us, in the Kingdom for such a time as this, but that the Kingdom is in us for such a time as this. Through us the mind of Christ and the wisdom of God has a voice into this world, and a place to let solutions spring forth. Within us are rivers of living water waiting to be released through God-given words of encouragement and power gifts – to refresh the weary, encourage the downcast, heal the sick and wounded, set prisoners free, and to bring solutions to current problems. Our part is in asking the Lord, “What would You have me do?” and then doing what He asks of us.
These are days where it is not enough to just seek to displace powers of darkness through prayer, we must also step up and fill the void that is left in the realms of influence they held in the earthy realm. If we do not, we run the risk of allowing those spiritual powers to return with reinforcements and become seven times stronger in influence in that area of society. While Matt 12:43-45 was written about individuals, it is a spiritual truth and reality that also applies to influence over groups, cities, regions, and nations.
Summing up – In the middle of this turmoil and clamouring noise, God is calling us to become quiet, to come before Him, to know that He is God, and to listen to His counsel and wisdom for this time we are in. Therein lays a personal challenge for each of us…
Will you make the time to quiet yourself before Him, to recentre yourself in Him, and position yourself to receive His peace?
Will you lay aside your personal opinions and agendas so you can hear Him clearly?
Will you work in both the spiritual realm (through prayer), and the earthly realm (through releasing the Kingdom within you) to work in the situations you find yourself in each day?
Not only do these questions hold the key to your emotional well-being in the days ahead, but they also hold the key to your usefulness to the world around you. And it is not a stretch to say that the future of the world lays in the answer to these questions.
While God can, and does, sovereignly do things at times, Scripture is clear that He has given the stewardship and dominion of the world into mankind’s care, and has chosen to work in this world in partnership with His children. Will we answer His call in these days to draw aside and receive fresh insight and assignments from Him, and each do our part?