~ A short devotional ~

Last night after Brooklyn went to sleep, Trevor and I watched a little bit of the new Star Trek movie that came out a year or so back. Right in the beginning, the Federation starship (the “good guys”) is viciously attacked by another ship (the “bad guys”). People are screaming and running for cover, the Federation ship is being badly damaged and various crewmembers are scrambling around in efforts to keep everything running and under control.

However, as the Captain moves about the ship, whenever he comes into the presence of a crewmember – no matter what they are doing (including trying to save the ship from complete destruction) – they stop immediately and stand at attention until the Captain passes, then resume their scrambling. Now, I know absolutely nothing about military protocol, so perhaps this is how it is in real life? Either way, watching it on the screen, it seemed so crazy. First, the situations those crewmembers were in the middle of dealing with were crucially important – life or death kind-of stuff. And yet, their circumstances and priorities, no matter how critical, were secondary to the authority of the Captain. Second, in the midst of the chaos that was all around them, they had to have the presence of mind watch for the Captain and respond appropriately when he came toward them.

This morning, I read a familiar passage from Psalms 46:10. “Be still and know that I am God.” As I considered that phrase “be still,” I remembered the scenes from the movie last night. In the presence of the Captain, the crewmembers stopped everything and were completely still, out of reverence and respect for his position. They knew who he was and responded appropriately. It was an “ah-ha” moment for me! Sure, I’ve heard many times to be quiet before the Lord, to stop to listen and so on. But I realized that I needed to take it a step further. It’s not enough to simply zip it. I need to stand at attention! I need to stop in my tracks to acknowledge his authority over me… over my circumstances, my plans, my priorities, my worries, my needs, my hopes, my struggles, my whatever! AND, in order to do so, I must be paying attention. If I keep my head buried in what I’m doing or dealing with (even if it’s all good and right things), I could actually miss Him. Whoa.

The rest of verse 10 says, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” If, as followers of Christ, we take the stance of subordinate to God’s authority over us and our lives (we have professed Him as our “Lord”, after all) and respond to his majesty and holiness with the reverence, respect and obedience that is fitting, then there’s no doubt that a thunderous, resounding exaltation of our Lord would soon spread across the nations, across the earth. Is that sort-of like Newton’s third law? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction…

• Action: truly be still before the Lord.
• Reaction: the earth will be moved for Him.

Hugs & blessings!

- Connie