"Be still, and know that I am God" - An Encouraging Note for Christians

If you’re like me, you are probably pretty tired of all the political nonsense that permeates…well, everything…right now.  It is discouraging when your “best” choice for a political leader is either Ahab or Jezebel, and there is infighting amongst the people of God over these two disgusting choices. 

This article is not directed towards politics; there are enough articles dedicated to that subject (“…Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh” – Ecclesiastes 12:12), so there is no point to adding another to the mix.  Rather than discussing politics, there are a few other concepts that we’ll look at that will, hopefully, encourage the discouraged Christians of our nation.

Throughout this election cycle and over the course of the last two presidential terms, many Christians have mourned for times past when things were “better”.  To some degree, this is understandable; over the last 10 years or so, we have had the agendas of the gay rights, transgender rights, Muslim rights, and the pro-choice movement shoved down our throats without much of a respite.  Too often, we are tempted to say that we “have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts” and that we alone are left (1 Kings 19:14).  Too often do we shut up our mouths as Christians and say that we “will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name” (Jeremiah 20:9).  Too often we believe that times past were so much better than they are now…but were they? Or do we have a misconstrued remembrance of times past?

It is in human nature to remember fondly the times that have gone before and forget the trials and troubles faced by them.  Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 7:10, writes “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.”  The indication is that the former days were not really better than they are now.  While the aforementioned agendas may be prominent in our society today, are they really any better than the agendas of the past? Even in America, there have been some rather nasty agendas that have been put forth as acceptable; are gay and transgender rights any more appalling than the concept of “free love”? Unfortunately, too many Christians have bought into the concept of America being a “Christian nation”; while there are many principles within our Constitution based upon Biblical principles, we fool ourselves if we truly think that we have ever been a Christian nation (this does not mean that we have not been greatly blessed by God, but that is a topic for another time). 

Do we have it worse than any other followers of God? In the days of Noah, only eight souls were saved (Genesis 6:1-22).  In the days of Abraham and Lot, only Lot and his two daughters were saved from two wicked cities (Genesis 19).  Men and women like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Esther lived among the most wicked of people and in the most wicked of empires, and yet remained faithful.  Manasseh, the king of a nation directly ruled by God, “made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums” (2 Kings 21:6).  John the Baptizer was beheaded by the king (Matthew 14:1-12).  Christians in the first-century were murdered in the streets (Acts 7). 

In 1 Corinthians 10:13, the Apostle Paul writes that no “temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man”; while the specific application deals with temptation, there is an underlying principle that we should consider: we do not have it worse than anyone has ever had it! We often use phrases such as “you should walk a mile in MY shoes”, which indicates that nobody has ever had it as hard as we have it.  In more general terms, Christians tend to apply that to our society today, but without really thinking about what Christians in the past had to endure.  While our society strongly advocates the murdering of children by means of abortion, is it so much God’s people doing it (I’m sure there are exceptions, but generally speaking)? In the days of Manasseh, it WAS God’s chosen nation committing these atrocities! Remember the words of the Apostle Peter, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40); remember that his audience in this instance was the crowd that had physically called for and caused the crucifixion of Christ.

So where is the word of encouragement in all of this? Providing all of these examples may sound a little discouraging in and of themselves, but that depends upon perspective.  Consider the example of Noah; in spite of all the wickedness that engulfed the world (“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heard was only evil continually” – Genesis 6:5), God recognized the righteousness of Noah and his family.  The same is true of Esther, Joseph, Elijah, Jeremiah, Lot, and the list goes on! Consider also the boldness of the first-century Christians when they faced persecution; when beaten, the Apostles “departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).  Were they dissuaded from preaching the gospel in such turbulent times? Were they dissuaded from teaching truth when the agenda of the Jews was set against them? Rather, we are told that “daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). 

No matter who the president is in our physical nation, and no matter what agendas are forced upon the populace, our job as Christians remains exactly the same.  Might our job be harder if laws are passed forbidding the name of Jesus? Yes, our job might be harder, but no harder than what the first-century Christians faced, or the idolatry and false prophets faced by Jeremiah.  We have forgotten that our job is to work at changing individual hearts to God and not to legislate morality; Josiah commanded that idols and the articles of idolatry be destroyed in his day, and yet the hearts of the people remained idolatrous.  Do we give up? Do we refuse to “speak anymore in His name” (Jeremiah 20:9)? Or do we pick ourselves up, as Jeremiah did, and press on? Jeremiah, after stating that he would no longer preach in “His name”, said that “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was wear of holding it back, and I could not” (Jeremiah 20:9). 

Why worry about the election? The world will never be perfect and the unrighteous will always have the dominant control, so we should spend our time on making a true difference in the world by working to change individual hearts.  If our material possessions are taken from us, then they are gone and yet our spiritual treasure persists; which matters more (Matthew 6:19-21, 25-34)? No matter what happens, we need to get up and do the work that God has set before us to do (1 Kings 19, Galatians 6:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:13). 

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due seasons we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10)