appointments, assignments, meetings, and activities, all make it
hard to truly slow down and be still. But in Psalm 46:10 God
tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
There is something about being still, quieting our spirits, our
minds, and our bodies that helps us focus on God. I have heard
it said that God is a gentleman. He will not break down a door
but rather will quietly knock at the door of your heart, waiting
for you to let Him inside. The problem is our lives are so busy
and loud that many of us do not hear Him knocking. We do not
know His voice well enough yet to distinguish it from all the
other voices we hear in our heads. Making time to be still
before the Lord is so important because it allows us to solely
focus on Him, to expectantly wait upon Him and develop the
discipline of just being still.
Even Jesus had times in his life when He went away to pray
and just be with God. If Jesus needed to do that, then we do
too. We see in Luke 22:39, 41 that Jesus went out “as usual” to
the Mount of Olives to pray: “Jesus went out as usual to the
Mount of Olives. ... He withdrew about a stone’s throw
beyond them, knelt down and prayed.”
Reading the words as usual means it was not a one-time
occurrence. Jesus had a habit of going to that spot and seeking
God. That particular night was very special because it was the
evening Jesus would be betrayed by one of His close friends
and handed over to the Romans, who would later crucify Him.
In verse 42 Jesus was wrestling with God’s will for His life.
Jesus was real with God. He did not hide the fact that He
wanted God to remove the coming cup of suffering to see if
there could be another way to save the world from their sins