"Be Still And Know…”

And those at their desks are laughing and cutting up with each other while the teacher might have one student at his/her desk trying to teach that student something.

It seems that school teachers of the past knew some things that the current teachers of today do not know. That is, they knew that before you can teach a child something, you have to first get them to be still to get their attention.

I am not saying this to make the current school teachers look bad, because we all know it is a difficult task to get children to be still and pay attention these days.

WHY IS IT A DIFFICULT TASK? Because we Americans live in a fast paced society, especially in our large cities. People are moving at such a fast pace, they do not even have time to be still, and look their next door neighbor in their face and say, “Good morning!”

DO YOU EVER STOP AND LOOK AT HOW FAST PACED THE SOCIETY IN WHICH WE LIVE OPERATES?

It is astounding, for example, have you noticed-

• How fast DRIVERS drive down the highways

If you were to stop and ask them why they are driving so fast, putting their life and family at risk, they could not give you one good sensible reason.

Illus: Someone said one man went speeding down the highway so fast, that he hit a heavy set man walking across the highway. The policeman said, “Why were you driving so fast? You ran over that heavy set man, why didn’t you drive around him?” He said, “I didn’t think I had enough gas!”

This is the age in which we live. Wherever we go, we want to get there as fast as we can.

There was a time when people enjoyed their trips by looking at the scenery as they traveled to their destination and back. But today, their eyes are focused on that car ahead of them, and they are trying to figure out how they can get around him. Many people can’t stand to have a car in front of them, they just have to pass them.

This is a fast paced society. Also, have you noticed-

• How fast many folks eat

Many folks in our society do not EAT FOOD, they INHALE FOOD.

Illus: A man went into a fast food restaurant and ordered a hot dog and a drink. He did not eat the hot dog, he practically swallowed the hot dog whole. He got that hot dog aimed in the right direction, and when his elbows were raised to a certain level, his mouth flew open, and he slid it in his mouth in almost one bite.

I guarantee you that he went home and told his wife he was having a problem with indigestion. Of course he was! Those teeth God gave him to chew that hot dog with, never had a chance to be used.

The point I am trying to make is this: WE LIVE IN A FAST PACED SOCIETY. Practically everything we do is done at breakneck speed.

You can really see our fast paced society when you contrast it with somewhere like the mountains of North Carolina where people live 3 to 5 miles apart, and life is slower.

Illus: When you drive by their homes, they stop what they are doing in the yard and wave at you. And if you have the time, they will come to your car and talk with you as long as you want to talk.

When you live in a fast paced society like ours, you miss out on so many things.

For example, I do not even know why God goes through the trouble each day to:

• Make the beautiful cloud formations

• Make the beautiful sunrise and sunset

• The beautiful flowers that we walk by

Because we live in such a fast paced society that we do not even have time to look at these things anymore.

But not only in the PHYSICAL REALM do we miss out. Our biggest lost is in the SPIRITUAL REALM.

Notice, this is a command from almighty God, saying to us, “Be Still”. That is, get off of this fast paced merry-go-round and be still for a moment. Why? Because He wants to teach us something.

WHAT DOES HE WANT TO TEACH US?

Look at our key verse again, “Be still, and know that I am God...”

WHY DON’T WE TAKE TIME TO BE STILL AND COME TO RECOGNIZE OUR NEED TO KNOW THAT HE IS GOD?

It is because we have so much confidence in ourselves, that we do not feel the need to have confidence in God.

It is good that we have confidence in ourselves, we need a certain amount of confidence in ourselves. But the problem is that many have so much confidence in themselves, that they have become too big for their britches.