Be Still-God is Enough, Abide in Him

Key Elements

In Psalm 46:10, God commands His people to abandon their futile resistance and recognize His supreme authority over all nations and the earth.

Main Idea for the series: When life is filled with chaos, God invites us to be still, resting in His unchanging character, and discovering that true peace is not found in the absence of storms but in the presence of our sovereign Savior.

I want my audience to realize that we can stand down and abide in God’s presence because God is sufficient for our every need.

Sources: Commentaries on Logos

Intro

If you go to Honduras with us on a mission trip, you’ll get to experience one of the most incredible opportunities in your life. After we have served and ministered all week, the organization we go with works in a cultural day for us and depending where we are serving in the country, usually we get the opportunity to go ziplining. And it’s unlike any ziplining experience I’ve ever been a part of because you actually, at the end, zipline twice over this huge waterfall. Now, the first time we went to Honduras four years ago, I did it, because I wanted to say that I’ve actually had this experience. And, let me just say, it was horrifying for me because I’m extremely scared of heights. But here’s proof. (SHOW PIC) So, there’s about twelve stations throughout the whole experience. And where you start isn’t that bad, but the last two lines are stretched out over this waterfall. And it’s an incredible experience but for someone who has a fear of heights, it’s the stuff nightmares are made of. So, they get you ready with all the equipment-the harness, the helmet, the little carabiner that hooks to the cable. They go over the instructions and in the instructions, they tell you “if for some reason you get stuck and don’t make it all the way to the platform, don’t panic, we’ll come get you.” So that first time, I was about the fifth person to go and we were on the third zipline and I shoot out across the river below and I don’t make it all the way to the platform. I actually feel myself slowing down and I thought “I’m not going to make it.” And I stop a good distance from the platform. I’m just hanging there trying not to cuss. Everyone else from the team is on the platform looking at me and laughing. So, they try to pull me in and it’s not working. So one of the guys from the zipline hooks up and slides out to me on the line. He hooks himself to me and he tells me “don’t do anything, just be still and I’ll pull us back to the platform and he proceeds to do so. At one point, I tried to help and he told me to stop. Because the only way we were getting back to the platform was for me to stop contributing and simply trust the strength and wisdom of the guy who knew what he was doing. I was just grateful that it didn’t happen over the waterfall.

And that story, as silly as it is, perfectly illustrates what God is telling us through the psalmist in Psalm 46:10 when He says “Stop fighting or Be still.” Because most of us have no trouble believing that God is capable. If I went around this congregation this morning and asked that question, most of us would say yes. The problem we have is that we think God needs our help. You see, the most difficult thing for us as followers of Jesus is trusting that His strength alone is enough to carry us through. And that’s what “be still” has really meant this whole series and today, as we conclude this series, we are going to talk about why it’s possible. It’s possible not because God is just capable, it’s possible because God is enough.

Let’s read Psalm 46 together one final time...

Message

So, a few weeks ago, we began this series by looking at Psalm 46 and specifically zeroing in on Psalm 46:10. Week one we began with “Stop fighting or Be Still and know that I am God...”- focusing on the truth that God is powerful; Week two we focused in on “Stop fighting or Be Still and know that I am...”- focusing on the truth that God is present; Week three we focused on “Stop fighting or Be still and know...”-looking at the truth that God is personal; and today, we take this verse down to the simplest place it can go “Be still...”-focusing on the truth that God is sufficient, He is enough.

So, here’s our main idea that we've been focusing on for this entire series: When life is filled with chaos, God invites us to be still, resting in His unchanging character, and discovering that true peace is not found in the absence of storms but in the presence of our sovereign Savior.

And today, as we look at the next part of our verse, here’s what I want us to remember: We can stand down and abide in God’s presence because God is sufficient for our every need.

Today, I want to go back to where we started a few weeks ago, because I believe it’s the key to this whole message. To “Stop fighting, to Be Still, to Stand Down” means to lower our weapons because the battle no longer depends on us. And this morning, I want to show you why that’s possible and it’s a truth we can build our lives on-God is enough.

And because God is enough, there are some truths that bring us to a place of freedom in our lives that will transform the way we live:

1. God is enough, so we have nothing to prove.

As I get older, I find myself making this statement more often “I’m 52 years old, I got nothing to prove.” When my boys are talking about how much they work out or how far they ran, my reply is “good for you, I got nothing to prove.” When something heavy needs to be moved, I ask for help because “I got nothing to prove.” It might seem like laziness but I know my capabilities and that things hurt a lot easier and are more apt to break at this stage in my life.

Now, it’s interesting that we might think that way in life about certain things, but when it comes to dealing with difficult circumstances and specifically our relationship with God, that’s not really how we live. We live like everything depends on us. We live like we have something to prove. Because whether we want to say it out loud or not, that’s a pressure all of us feel. To prove we’re capable, to prove we’re worthy of love, to prove we’re worthy of respect. We feel the need to constantly prove to other people in our lives and even to God that we’re competent and valuable and that we’ve got everything handled. And there could be multiple reasons that we feel that way. Maybe it was a parent that put that kind of pressure on us or an authority figure in our life that demanded that or a person that we greatly respected that we just wanted to make proud. The truth is that all of us, on some level, feel like we have something to prove to somebody in this life.

But Psalm 46 totally dismantles that thought process. What Psalm 46 shows us from the very beginning is that God is enough and if God is enough, then you and I have nothing to prove. You and I were never in the position to add to God in the first place. And God being enough really comes down to one word in Psalm 46:10 that sums up what we’ve been talking about this whole series, it’s the word “Be or Stop.” “Be Still or Stop Fighting” points us straight to the character of God. It takes us back to what we talked about a couple of weeks ago when we looked at the “I Am ness of God.” It literally means “to be.” You see, us making the choice in difficult circumstances to stand down or be still, not having all the answers but knowing that God is with us, is possible not because we have enough strength to pull it off or to make it happen in and of ourselves. It is possible because of who God is, it is possible because God is sufficient in and of Himself without any help from us, it is possible because God is enough.

And the truth that God is enough is reflected from the very first line of this psalm all the way to the end:

Vs. 1- “God is our refuge, God is our strength, God is our helper, God is always found.”

Vs. 4- “God is in His dwelling place.”

Vs. 5- “God is on His throne in His Holy city.”

Vs. 7 and 11- “God is with us, God is our stronghold.”

Notice what Psalm 46 isn’t saying- “We are our own refuge, we are our own strength, we are on the throne, we are our own stronghold.”

Over and over again, the truth that comes forth is that God is enough. And that’s the foundation of “Being still and Standing Down.” The recognition that we lack nothing because God is enough. He lacks nothing, He needs nothing, He is sufficient in and of Himself. He has always been present for His people and He will always be present and in Him and Him alone we find everything that we need. In Psalm 46:4 he says “There is a river— its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High.” In every moment of life but especially in the most difficult moments, God’s provisions flow like a river with an endless supply of what we need to face any situation and most importantly, we have God Himself with us. And, again, it’s not something we earn or have to prove ourselves worthy of. It comes through the surrender of our hearts and lives to Him as Savior and Lord. And in the midst of difficult moments, instead of exhausting ourselves trying to solve our problems, being so focused on our circumstances, we lean into the presence and the provision of God.

So, if God is enough, that means we don’t have to be. Some of us, if not all of us, need to hear this today. We don’t have to prove we can handle everything. We don’t have to pretend we’re stronger than we are. We don’t have to carry every burden alone. We don’t have to have every answer. And we don’t have to prove we are enough. The truth is we were never in that competition with God for that position in the first place. And for some of us, that’s exactly the place we’ve been living-trying to be something only God can be. Trying to be the one who holds everything together. And maybe that’s the whole point that God is trying to get across to us and maybe that’s the whole point of difficult moments in the first place-for us to get to a point in our lives where we see that it’s God who we need to look to and depend on and not ourselves. Hear God saying this to you today, “That’s not your job.” “Stop Fighting, Be Still, Stand Down,” God is enough. And once we get this first truth settled in our hearts and minds, it leads us to our second truth...

2. God is enough, so we choose to abide.

So, if we have nothing to prove, then what do we do instead? The Bible has a specific word for it, not “achieving or producing.” It’s “abiding.” And it’s not a feeling, it’s an active choice we make. And again, it comes through deep relationship with God. It’s us knowing God in the midst of the most painful moments this life will bring. And a side note, we can’t wait til those painful moments come to decide that it’s at that moment we’ll go deep in our relationship with God. The depth of our relationship with God has to be pursued consistently and daily, so that when life throws hardship our way, instead of dwelling on the circumstance, we dwell in the presence of God, the One we’ve been pursuing all along.

Now, abiding doesn’t mean we just stop. To abide in the presence of God is to actively make a choice to stop defending ourselves and live in receptive trust of God. And, again, that comes through relationship. It’s releasing our grip on the situation, focusing on the presence of God in our lives, and trusting in the truth that He is God. And Jesus gives us the perfect picture of abiding in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains or abides in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” Here’s what abiding literally means-to stay, to remain, to dwell, to make your home in. Jesus isn’t saying “come to me only when you need help or when things get unbearable and you’ve exhausted all of your resources.” Jesus is saying “to abide means to live in continual dependence on Me.” When things are good and when things are difficult.

So, if you know anything about trees, especially fruit trees, a branch doesn’t manufacture its own nutrients or produce fruit through effort of its own. The branch of a fruit tree has one job-stay attached to the tree. And when it does, it produces fruit because it receives what it needs from the source of life. That’s exactly what abiding in Jesus and a relationship with God looks like. It’s us choosing daily to stay connected to God and living in or abiding in relationship with Him. And it begins with us “Being still, Standing down” and remaining connected to God. What Jesus says in John 15 takes us directly back to the foundation of stillness that the psalmist gives us in Psalm 46-when we choose to “be still” that is the result of us daily abiding in Christ and staying connected to Him and not striving in our own strength. And the result of that connection is God accomplishing His purposes through us and bearing spiritual fruit in our lives. It’s us resting in and remaining in God and our relationship with Him with confident expectation that, as we do, God will work for His glory and our good. And I want you to notice the order here-Being still, standing down as a result of abiding in our relationship with God, comes before the fruit is produced. You see, we don’t produce fruit through effort of our own so that God will accept us or we’ll earn favor from Him in some way. The spiritual fruit of our lives comes from a life connected to a relationship with God made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ His Son. Again, it’s all because God is enough. He is the source, He is the life, He is the One we abide in; and as we choose to stay connected to God through that relationship Jesus provides, we do so not in our own power but in a power that only comes through abiding in Him.

And if we’re honest, that’s what some of us need the most today. Not another strategy or a Bible study or a podcast or a sermon that we think is going to fix our lives with some magic formula, all of those things are good but they’re not enough. But Jesus is. Here’s what some of us need to do today-we need to choose to slow down and abide, rest in, stay connected to, remain in relationship with Jesus. Daily making the repeated, deliberate choice to stay close to the One who is enough.

And this leads us to our third truth, not only do we abide but...

3. God is enough, so we rest in His strength.

And this is the point that everything has been leading us to. Because God is enough, we have nothing to prove; because God is enough, we choose to abide in Him, which leads us to something that our culture rarely gives us permission to do: we rest-not in our own strength but in His.

Look again at Psalm 46. The psalmist describes a world that we are pretty familiar with. If you know the context of this Psalm, and we talked about it in the first week of this series, this is one of the most intense times in Israel’s history. They are on the brink of destruction. They are surrounded by chaos and destruction and their world is falling apart around them. And God performs a miracle and delivers His people. “The earth is trembling, the mountains are toppling, the waters are roaring, there’s war and nations raging,” and yet in the middle of all of it, God says “Stop fighting, be still, stand down.” How is that possible? It’s possible because no matter what is going on in the world around the people of God, whatever circumstances we are facing in this life, none of that changes who God is. What does he say in Psalm 46:5 “God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns.” And that’s the reason the people of God can stand down-not because our lives are stable and everything is good, but because God is with us and His strength gives us the ability to stand down. All of this is going on around us and God speaks in vs. 6 and what does it say “the earth melts at the sound of His voice.” Listen, it does not matter what is happening around us or how difficult this life gets, if you know God as your Savior and Lord, you know the One whose power never weakens and that’s why we can rest. And it’s a rest that’s unexplainable and unfathomable, but if you’ve ever experienced it, you know that it’s not found in and of ourselves, it’s only found because God is enough. It’s only found in Jesus.

In Matthew 11:28–30 Jesus talks about this rest only found in Him when He says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Here’s the beautiful invitation from Jesus for all of us-to live in relationship with Him, abiding in Him, not straining or striving in our own strength but drawing on the strength that only comes from knowing Him in a deeper way. Actively engaged in living for Him yet realizing we are totally and completely dependent on Him at the same time. And when we live this way, resting in His strength and not ours, we come to realize that this kind of rest is possible only as we place our trust in God yielding our lives, our plans, and our everything to the One whose strength alone gives us the ability to “be still.”

Notice in Matthew 11, Jesus didn’t say there would never be a “yoke,” there would never be difficulties. There’s going to be hardship in this life that will weigh us down. But when we choose to abide in Him, and we rest in His strength, we no longer carry the weight by ourselves. God carries it for us. And today, the God who is enough, the God who is sufficient calls us to rest in Him.

Closing

So, this morning I want to invite you “Be Still.” Maybe for the first time in a long time. As you stand with me this morning, I want to give us all an opportunity take the steps God is leading us to take today. With every head bowed and every eye closed, you can come to the altar or remain at your seat, but I want us to take a moment and walk through some Practical steps to Biblical Stillness: (I’ve already placed these in your notes for you today)

Practical steps to Biblical stillness:

a. Release what you’re trying to prove.

Where in your life are you trying to prove yourself to someone else or even to God? Work, school, on that sports team, Band, to a spouse or a boyfriend or girlfriend, etc. Ask God to reveal that to you right now and ask Him to give you the strength to let that go, to lay it down and not pick it up again. It may be something from your childhood. Realize today that your identity is found in Jesus. Next...

b. Create space to abide with God.

Purposefully commit to a time every day where you sit in the presence of God and then all throughout your day reflect on your relationship with God and His presence in your life.

c. Replace “I have to be strong enough” with “God is my strength.”

As you go throughout this week, recognize moments where you’re trying to get through in your own strength and pause and ask God to constantly remind you that He is your strength.

Salvation, baptism, covenant membership. Come to the altar as we worship.