Have you felt like your mind is stuck in overdrive, with racing thoughts, anxieties, worries, and fears? Amid our chaotic lives, quieting our minds to find God’s peace and presence can be challenging. But the Bible offers a helpful strategy for quieting our minds in Psalm 46:10, which says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This phrase is about finding rest and peace in God’s presence. It’s a call to slow down, quiet our minds and hearts, and trust God’s goodness and sovereignty. In the original Hebrew language, it means to stop, be inactive, let go and relax. The command also translates “cease striving,” “surrender,” “stop,” “desist,” and “make peace.”
The most famous line in Psalm 46 is verse 1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When surrounded by worries, our God is bigger than any troubling circumstance. He is more significant than our enemies, more excellent than our troubled hearts; He is our fortress with abundant supplies! So, in the middle of all our anxious thoughts and worries, Psalm 46 says, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.”
Those streams are streams of living water from God’s holy dwelling places of His presence. This is the same living water from the Garden of Eden that gives life, strength, and peace. This is the same living water Jesus offers for all those who are thirsty (John 7:37-39). Every one of us who believes in Him has access to this living water that flows from our innermost being:” It is the presence of the Holy Spirit inside us!
The problem is that our minds are often covered by worries, fears, anxiety, and pain, and our inner well of living water has stopped. So, we need to learn “how” to access that living water of dynamic strength, peace, love, and joy! And Psalm 46 gives us a clue on how to do that. It says our human response to overwhelming troubles should be to “be still and know.” In other words, when we are spinning around in our emotions, we should cease striving so hard in our own will and ways to stop. Stop pushing. Slow down and set our minds on Him.
Stop and be still; surrender to God and His dealings. “Be still and know He is God. We often grab onto our opinions tightly without listening to God’s opinion. We hold on to our rushing about, hurt, pain, and bitterness. We grow impatient with everything. Our fears, attitudes, and worries consume us until we lose our sense of peace, love, or joy. Yet, the verse commands us to let go, relax, be still, cease striving, and surrender to God’s will and ways.
St. Augustine asked, “To what purpose are we emphatically commanded to ‘be still?’ We are commanded to be still to see that God would say, ‘I am God. That is, not you, but I am God. I created, I create anew; I formed, I form anew; I made, I make anew.’ We cannot see the majesty of our mighty God or His goodness when we are caught up in our worries and scurrying around with anxious, angry thoughts. God has the answers to our problems and peace of mind, but we miss His comfort in our emotional flurry. Thus, the command to be still and know.
Growing up, my grandmother would have me be still, quiet down, and write down what I thought the Lord was saying. I did not know what to do or how to do it. And I did not know how to quiet the anxious thoughts in my mind, much less hear what God would say to me. I sat for hours staring at the paper, twirling the pen, looking around for inspiration, and wanting to quit. I questioned why she asked me to do this when I did not see her do it with my other cousins. I did not clean my room, finish my homework, or clean the kitchen after supper. I thought this was her gentle way of punishing me without a spanking. Over time, I slowly reached a place where my thoughts slowed down, and I could feel inner peace. Since then, I have learned “how” to quiet my soul, find peace, and receive from God.
This simple process will help you also! God is peace, love, and joy. You can learn to quiet your mind and receive hope and peace from God in any circumstance. You can live in the verse that says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Because of that dreadful day in the Garden of Eden, our peace, love, and joy are hit and miss. We stray from His presence so easily. However, when we begin to understand that our peace (or lack of peace) indicates how close we are to His presence, we can grow in our ability to stay in His peace! We have strayed from God’s presence if we lose our peace of mind. A loss of personal peace indicates that God desires us to draw closer to His heart, calm our fears, and strengthen our minds and souls.
God has answers to all our situations that only come with His presence’s quiet, still, small voice or breeze. I learned this excellent little exercise to calm my mind, and it works for everyone who has tried it! Since it is tough to hear God’s words when anxious and upset, we must learn to be still and quiet inside.
This exercise uses Scripture to train our minds to be still. In the beginning, you will have many thoughts and emotions running through your mind. But if you focus on a Scripture or verse in this specific way, the Word Himself will still be in your mind and reveal Himself to you. We may have surrendered our minds to random thoughts, but this is an exercise in surrendering our minds to Christ alone.
Exercise
First, find a comfortable place free of distractions and have your Bible and something to write with. You can play some Christian music if you prefer, and I recommend instrumental without words to avoid singing. You can use different methods to still your mind, but for this exercise, we want to learn to use the Holy Scriptures to cause our minds to be still and focus on God’s presence. If you have thoughts about sin, confess to God and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9). If your mind is cluttered, focus only on the Scripture verse and/or picture Jesus with you.
- Use Psalm 46 or The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-11 for this exercise. You can print these instructions to refer back to until this practice becomes a habit.
- Ask the Father to have mercy on your soul and forgive you. Ask Him to make His Word live in your life.
- Read slowly, one phrase or Word at a time, until you experience a sense of peace. Stay in this experience as long as you feel His peace. The Word will quiet your mind and bring you peace. The Scripture is for focus in this exercise, so your mind does not stray.
- Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Col 3:2). Have faith, and trust His word in bringing stillness to your mind.
- Exhale and wait on His presence; take the loving peace of the moment into your heart.
- Notice the peace, continue waiting until the sense of His presence lifts, and then move to the following phase.
- Write down any spontaneous thoughts that come to your mind. This simple act validates your experience and helps you sort through it. I encourage you to practice this exercise daily until it becomes easy and familiar. Learning a new skill takes some practice, so do not be discouraged if your first attempt is not what you expect! Keep pursuing Jesus in this way.
Option #2
1. Spend time in prayer. Prayer is a powerful tool for quieting our souls and connecting with God. Take some time each day to pray, either in a quiet space or while out for a walk. Pour out your heart to God, expressing your fears, worries, and doubts, and ask him to fill you with his peace.
2. Meditate on Scripture. The Bible contains verses reminding us of God’s faithfulness and love. Spend time each day meditating on a few key verses, allowing them to sink deep into your soul and fill you with hope and peace. We will dive into this more in a minute.
3. Practice gratitude. When overwhelmed, it’s easy to focus on everything going wrong. However, cultivating a heart of gratitude can help shift our perspective and remind us of all the good things in our lives. Take some time each day to reflect on the blessings in your life and thank God for his goodness.
4. Take time to rest! In our fast-paced society, it’s easy to feel like we always need to be doing something. But rest is crucial for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Set aside time each week to rest and recharge, whether by taking a nap, walking, or simply spending time with loved ones. By practicing these habits, we can cultivate a spirit of stillness and peace in our lives, even amid chaos and uncertainty. So, let’s heed God’s call to “mind be still” and find rest in his loving presence!
